The unregulated costs of a public education
April 11, 2009
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Kristin Rushowy
Patty Winsa
Ontario's high school students say they pay a high price for public education – everything from purchasing paints and supplies for art class to fees for participating in drama productions.
The school year begins with an annual activity fee – which can be as high as $85 – then quickly bumps up to as much as $1,000 a year, says Jonathan Scott of the Ontario Student Trustees' Association.
"If you are involved in two sports and maybe one leadership activity, that's what it would cost," he said of the $1,000. "Those are the kind of well-rounded people we encourage students to become; we don't want to discourage extracurricular activities." But, he argues, that's exactly what's happening.
The student association recently issued a report, Equitable Education? The Cost of Extracurriculars in Ontario's Schools, and found that student activity fees have increased more than 50 per cent since 2001 and that there are no rules on what – and how much – students pay.
Almost 80 per cent of Ontario's high schools charge students for extracurricular activities, and the fees, which aren't regulated by school boards or the province, can vary by hundreds of dollars from school to school.
The results even shocked the Simcoe County District School Board, north of Toronto.
Trustees were "taken aback" by the range, said Carol McAulay, the board's superintendent of business services. "A school in Barrie will charge up to $500 or so for sports, but the other high school, south of that one in the same city, is charging only $50 for the whole year.
"The reaction around the board table was `how do we not know about what our schools are charging our students?'"
The report's recommendations include a standardized fee rate across the province, and an outright ban by 2012.
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