Althea Adams, like many Calgary parents, got a hefty bill from the Calgary Board of Education this year: $1,300 in various fees for her two sons attending elementary school.
“I was actually kind of surprised. That was a lot of money to pay,” she said. “I got the bill and I was like, ‘Wow, really?’ I had no idea.”
The money covers a variety of services:
- $30 each for instructional supplies and services
- $285 each for noon supervision
- $670 combined for transportation — the school bus
“That is just a ton of money to be paying right at the top of the year,” she said. After her husband died of leukemia a year and a half ago, she’s had to start looking for work — and the few extra hours gained by putting her kids on the bus could mean more flexibility for a part-time job.
The provincial government had promised to reduce school fees, but they’ve actually gone up so far, Adams said.
“This is still supposed to be publicly funded education and now we’re being asked to pay quite a bit of money just to get our kids to school.”
She’s fine financially for now, but isn’t sure if that will last. “Say I don’t get employed this year, I don’t know what next September’s going to look like. I’m on a very limited income. I don’t have a lot of options and this is just one more thing.”
Waivers and collection agents
Adams might be fine, but a growing proportion of Calgary parents with children in the Calgary Board of Education aren’t — 10 per cent of fees were waived in the 2014-15 school year (the latest available), up from nine per cent in the two years before. They represented about $3.1 million.
- 82 animals in distress seized from southern Alberta property: Alberta SPCA
- Calgary riders train for world BMX championships: ‘Pretty cool feeling’
- Speed a factor in serious-injury collision that sent motorcyclist to hospital: Calgary police
- Alberta announces new payment model for nurse practitioners
The board waives school fees for people on provincial financial assistance or who receive the Alberta Child Health Benefit, or that it determines are otherwise in financial hardship. It says that no child is ever denied access to education because of an inability to pay fees.
WATCH: Brad Grundy, chief financial officer for the Calgary Board of Education, explains why the board has decided to send some outstanding school fees to collections agencies.
According to Brad Grundy, chief financial officer for the CBE, the higher number of waivers is partly because of an increase in the charge for lunch supervision about two years ago — which meant a greater financial burden for more families.
“And I think currently, though we don’t have final information just yet, I’m going to bet that the economic circumstance in the province would have some impact.”
READ MORE: Alberta economy
And many people just aren’t paying. The board sent 7,400 transportation and lunch supervision accounts to collections agencies in 2014-15, representing about $2.1 million in uncollected fees.
“We believe that to preserve the integrity of our system, we need to ensure that those who can pay do pay. So the people who are sent to collections are usually the people who can afford to pay but for whatever reason, choose not to,” said Grundy – saying that all waiver options are presented to people before the file is sent along.
“We try and give them every opportunity to pay up before we send them to collections.”
The board gets back about 40 cents of every dollar sent to collections, which is money they wouldn’t get otherwise, he said.
No date set for provincial fee reductions: education minister
The school board, like many others in Alberta, charges fees to make up for funding shortfalls, said Grundy. “It’s a fairly easy equation. It’s the dollars we get from the province. It’s the cost of providing that service. Put the two together and if there’s a gap, it becomes a fee.”
WATCH: Alberta Education Minister David Eggen discusses his government’s promise to reduce school fees
The NDP government campaigned on reducing school fees in the province, but didn’t act on that promise in its last budget, citing the difficult economy. According to information provided by the office of the minister of education, David Eggen, school boards across Alberta planned to charge about $250.7 million in school fees in their budgets last year.
It’s just too much, said Adams. “At the end of the day, the NDP needs to follow through with their promise. They promised to lower school fees. And they have done the exact opposite. They need to start looking at things and take a close look at CBE and how some of these school boards are run and how can they make adjustments so that we can make bussing and transportation more affordable for parents.”
The CBE is also hoping for help from the province.
“We’re eagerly looking forward to the government’s announcements about what they’re going to do around fee reductions,” said Grundy.
Once they have the money, the board will put it toward reducing fees, he said.
Education Minister David Eggen said his government still plans to reduce school fees – just not this year. “Our government ran in the election to reduce school fees by half. That’s what we ran on. And certainly during our term of government we will endeavour to do so.”
He believes that school boards shouldn’t blame the province for the high fees that they charge though. “We have put in place funding for education,” he said. “We fund for enrollment, which was going to be cut quite significantly. And I think every time school boards are making those tough decisions I’m very sympathetic, but they must be reminded of the fact that we’re funding for enrollment during a very difficult time.”
Comments