OSTA tells province 'tear down this barrier to education'

Ontario Student Trustees' Association
News Release

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The Ontario Student Trustees' Association has today
released a report on extracurricular activity fees that shows the inequity in our schools, and a major barrier to excellence in education.

"Schools are making kids pay to play," said association president Cody Welton of Lindsay. Schools are charging fees for sports, clubs, drama and other activities.

These fees - which have risen by over 50% in recent years - are a systematic barrier to equitable education. Evidence shows poorer students are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities.

Schools charge a student activity fee at the start of term, of a cost around 35$. But each sport and club then charges additional money to pay for items like uniforms, tournaments and transportation. Some students playing in several sports may face fees in the 1000$ range in one year of high school.

Perversely, students can feel penalised when they succeed because their success requires another fee to play in the next level of competition. This barrier can impede excellence.

What is truly frightening is that school boards have no central control over the fees, and most boards have no data on the fees their schools are charging. The fees vary across school boards, sometimes drastically between schools in the same municipality.

"We need extracurricular activities," Mr Welton argues, "because they are a great way to create student engagement, involvement in the school community and because they let students feel an ownership of their education and learn and lead according to their own interests. We need to get rid of these fees."

The report proposes a simple process over the next three years.

School boards need to determine the costs their schools are charging, cap the costs and bring in a relative standard across the board. This standard needs to be communicated to the Ministry, who should begin removing these fees by improving the funding formula and reinstating funding for sports equipment, musical instruments and extracurricular
transportation.

"Today, with the release of this report, we are calling on the government to support equity in education, support poverty reduction and get rid of these fees. We have put forward a plan to tear down this barrier to education, and we call on the government to enact the plan so that we can truly reach every student in Ontario," Mr Welton said.

As the largest student stakeholder in the education system, OSTA-AECO represents over 1.9 million students. Student trustees are youth representatives elected by their peers to bring the student voice to school board tables. Please visit www.osta-aeco.org for further information about the association.

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