ST. PAUL – St. Paul Education introduced a $50 monthly fee for full-time kindergarten students at Ashmont School, St. Paul Elementary School (SCECS), and Glen Avon School.
“The fee is new, but so is the program,” explained Jean Champagne, secretary treasurer with St. Paul Education. He explained the French kindergarten program at SPECS ran full-time without a fee as a pilot for many years.
“This year, it was decided that the program would be expanded to the English classes at SPECS and to Glen Avon School as well,” said Champagne.
Other school divisions
According to Champagne, many other school districts do not have full-time kindergarten programs. For those that do, most charge $125 to $350 a month, he said.
Foothills School Division, Prairie Rose, and Medicine Hat, for example, all charge $250 a month; St. Albert Public Schools charges $320 a month; Northern Gateway School Division in Whitecourt charges $325 a month; and Grand Prairie Public School Division and Parkland School Division charge $350 a month.
When asked what prompted the decision to include a kindergarten fee this year, Champagne explained that Alberta Education only provides funding for half-time kindergarten programs. And programming expansion means “significant unsupported costs.”
“Not charging a fee, would mean that the Division is taking resources away from other classrooms to support an elective program only offered in select schools,” Champagne said.
The full-time kindergarten programs at the three schools are estimated to cost around $29,000 per class, and the school division expects the fees to cover less than 40 per cent of the additional cost.
“Programs that have a combined K-1 split do not have a fee,” such as the combined K-1 class being offered at Heinsburg, said Champagne.