New policy on school supplies

In the spring of 2011, the Ontario Ministry of Education released its Guidelines for Fees and Learning Materials and Activities.  It directed all school boards within the province to ensure that they were meeting these guidelines and that they be implemented for the 2011/2012 school year. The end result of this process is a new method for collecting school fees and a greater emphasis on the fact that all fees requested are voluntary.  A sampling of the new guidelines is as follows:

·         A onetime school fee will be collected at the beginning of the year. ($20 for students in JK to Grade 6 and $25 for students in grade 7 and 8)

·         A “one fee amount” will exist for families with more than two children attending the same school.

·         There will be no requests to rent or purchase instruments for our intermediate music program, although families are certainly welcome to do so.  The school will buy as many instruments for music as their budget allows. These will be shared by all students and disinfected at the school. 

·         A school supplies list has been created for all students within our school board. One for students in JK to grade 3 and another for students in grades 4 to 8. This list can be found on our school council website at www.terryfoxschoolcouncil.ca.

The information that will be going home to families will emphasize that all financial requests are voluntary - as they should be. Our education system was built on the premise that every student is entitled to benefit from the education system without being required to pay a fee.  We at school council feel privileged to be part of the Terry Fox community and are happy to support those members of our community who need it. We would like to highlight however that the requests that are not fulfilled, will need to be met by the Terry Fox school budget and school council fundraising efforts.  Given that both of these sources are limited, the more we draw on them, the less capacity we will have to provide enhancements to our children’s educational experience. 

 In the past, with the money school council has fundraised, we have been able to purchase the African drums to supplement the music program, replace our play structure, bring in a variety of speakers into the school, purchase supplies for the various school clubs and support activities during Terry Fox week and our Winter Carnival – just to name a few!

Please keep this in mind as you prepare for the 2011/2012 school year. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.