School fees

[velvetpage]

I just read a website for the Calgary Board of Education. I skipped over most of the academic stuff, because it's actually very similar to what's on my board's website in relation to standardized testing, but I was intrigued by the page about school fees: Parents may find that there are about five hundred dollars' worth of school fees if they have two kids in high school.

Now, from my perspective, I think this is a good idea. I think it's crazy that the Ontario government provides every single pencil for its kids, for example. Careful shopping and sticking to a short list would make it possible for most kids to get all their basic supplies for $30-$40. This way, teachers can order exactly what they want their classes to have, everyone pays the same amount, and there is a waiver for parents who can't afford it.

I absolutely love the idea of a lunch supervision fee. One of the reasons our boards are crunched for cash and putting caps on supervision time is the changes to lunch supervision since the Harris government. Back in the late eighties, many Ontario boards hired supervisors to watch kids eat, so that teachers would have that time free. The decision at the time was that, if they were paying the supervisors anyway, it was okay to let kids stay for lunch even if their parents were home. Then Harris came, and with him came the financial crunch, and suddenly the lunch supervisors were gone. But a whole generation of kids had grown up expected lunch supervision for their children, free of charge, and someone had to provide it. So it fell back in teachers' laps.

What do you think? Is there a place for school fees, with a family cap on them and a waiver system in place, in Ontario?

Comments

[forthright.livejournal.com]

I don't see any point in fees. We already pay fees: they are called taxes, and it is the essence of public education that even if you don't use a service (e.g. if you have no kids), you pay for it because of the larger benefit to the community. If these are things everyone has to have as part of a basic education, then fees serve no purpose. Why set up an entire extra level of accounting for all these separate fees? If they are things that only some students have (e.g. lunch supervision) then either it is worth funding publicly without fees, or it is not worth having at all.

[melstra.livejournal.com]

I am still thinking about this topic, so I think I'll post something more thoughtful later, particularly in regards to the fees for materials....but first a question about lunch. How much time do kids actually GET for lunch at the various levels? What percentage actually do go home?

I know that kids at any level haven't gone home for lunch in my lifetime in any US area I'm familiar with. In fact, at the high school level, lunch period can be as short as about 20 minutes--hardly enough time to go home and come back, even if you live next door. Some schools allow juniors and seniors in high school to leave "campus" if they have good grades, particularly if they have a study hall on one side of the lunch period. I don't know what elementary schools are like here, but I suspect that, like at the HS level, lunch time is slowly being shortened in favor of more instructional time.

When I was in elementary school, it was rare for teachers to do the supervising at lunch--generally there was a cadre of a few mothers who did the recess and lunch supervisions. It could have been voluntary, but I think they were paid a small pittance, like the crossing guards.

My first thought is that if a substantial percentage actually do go home, then asking parents of the others to pay (with a waiver system in place) is probably reasonable. However, if you've got most kids there all day, it becomes as much a part of the "instructional period" as the 1/2 hours before and after school when the school is generally held responsible for coralling the kiddos on their grounds. I *think* some schools in the US have afterschool programs on their grounds, and obviously those aren't free.

[failstoexist.livejournal.com]

in our schools, you pay for your own supplies all through--some teachers have extra pencils and stuff in class, but you are expected to return them at the end of class. one teacher went so far as to take your shoe for a pencil so you wouldn't leave with hers. that was middle school, where everyone had their own...in elementary school I believe they have a lot of extras, but it just comes out of the budget, i suppose.

the only real fees we have are for parking. transportation is and must be paid for by the school if you live outside a certain distance range (.8-1.2 miles or something, depending on your age group), inside you can walk or get a ride from someone. We have aides who monitor the lunchroom...sometimes subs get that as one of their periods, or the assistant gym teacher. anyone who doesn't teach the full amount of periods per day.

I suppose that if those things aren't built into the budget in Ontario, it's better to have some fees that are fairly low, just to subsidize it a bit. it's a lot to expect people to suddenly go from paying no fees to $500, for example. it's something that would probably need to be introduced slowly to reduce the amount of waivers needed because people just couldn't afford it.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

School supplies? Parents buy. Lunch supervision? Pay for that? That is part of running a school. It's like saying you should pay fees for the secretary, the nurse, and the janitor. You need them in school all day, they need to eat, they need the supervision. It should be considered part of running the school.

We buy our own supplies here, even including things like paper towels, soap, tissues, and quite a bit of art stuff and the like, and fees aren't too high. The only extra fees my middle school kid had was a $4 fee for the one term they had skating, and for her gym uniform.

Someone on my flist has a great PTA that buys supplies en masse and makes up packages, and you pay to get one fully stocked package of school supplies. Here we also have a church that solicits funds from local businesses and buys cheap backpacks and fills them with the basics. Pretty cool. Kids eligible for free lunch are usually eligible to get those, and free shoes from payless. We are really good to those in need round here.

[blue-comet.livejournal.com]

Here, the cram all the kids into the gym for lunch, give them 15 minutes to eat, and boot them outside. It's pandemonium.

I'd happily pay a lunch supervision fee if it meant my kids could eat in a peaceful, civilized environment.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Many afterschool programs in NYC are free, by the way. Here in Dubuque the Y or St. Marks runs them and there is a sliding scale fee.