Steadily increasing costs for instructional materials may force the Grande Yellowhead Regional Division to increase the fees it charges parents of students in every grade. While the budget for the upcoming school year calls for the fees to remain at current levels, the board had a frank discussion of the issue at their latest board meeting (May 3).

In the immediate future, the board requested that divsional adminstrators examine just how much of the actual cost of materials like textbooks are covered by the current fee regime and recommend a course of action.

According to one local principal, there is a pressing need for more complete cost recovery on materials. Without more money from the province, or an increase in fees, school-level administrators have to start making difficult decisions.

“We always make the sacrifices in other areas, so unfortunately things like programs can start to suffer,” said Raymond Blanchette-Dube. “I say that guardedly because we’re always fighting to maintain our programs and the diversity of the program opportunities that really make Jasper Elementary unique.”

The province’s per-student grant that is paid out to every school division is expected to cover as much of the overall cost of public education as possible, but as costs have increased, the amount provided by the province for every student has remained relatively constant.

“We’re always struggling for money... there has not been an increase within the last eight years,” said Blanchette-Dube, who has a philosophical bone to pick with the idea of asking families to provide for the basics of education in the public system. “Alberta Education should be providing us with enough money, it shouldn’t be coming from the parents,” he said.

Jasper’s trustee on the GYRD board agrees with that principled stand, but adds that the practical reality demands that the board look at increasing instructional materials fees.

“In a purely philosophical sense, basic supplies should be part of our grant from the province,” said Gilbert Wall. “In a practical sense, we need to recover those costs. It’s kind of a Catch-22.”

Another argument for having parents pay a small fee for textbooks and other supplies is that some financial stake in the resources will ensure that students treat the materials with more care, he added. Still, Wall’s preference would clearly be to see more support from the provincial ministry.

“It is a province-wide issue,” he said. “It’s even more so in different jurisdictions. Overall, we live in very wealthy communities, so we can pay.”

Fees for materials are set by the division and vary according to grade level. Certain programs such as high school science or Industrial Arts have additional fees for special materials or programming particular to the course. While the degree of fee deliquency varies from school to school and from year to year, Blanchette-Dube reports few problems with getting parents to pay up.

“In Jasper we’re very fortunate, the majority pay their fees. We send one or two reminders, but our percentage of collection is much higher than at other schools,” he said.

In cases where families cannot afford to pay the fees, a detailed system of subsidy and support is available, according to Wall. Those parents who can pay will in all likelihood be asked to pay more in the future, as the GYRD is having to pinch pennies for a variety of reasons.

“Right now, we’re struggling, and we are cutting into programming,” he said, adding the situation may get worse before it gets better. There will be fewer students in the GYRD next year, meaning less grant money from the province.