Minister commends Community Services Council study on 
impact of fees and fundraising in education system

Education Minister John Ottenheimer says he will review the findings and seriously consider the issues raised in a Community Services Council (CSC) report, released today, which looks at the impact of school fees and fundraising on social inclusion and equality in schools.

The report, entitled Expanding their Universe: Reshaping the Future - A Report on the Impact of School Fees and Fundraising on Social Inclusion, was produced in partnership with the MacMorran Community Centre in St. John�s and focuses primarily on the impact of school fees and fundraising within the Avalon East School District. The minister noted, however, that the points raised are relevant to students, parents, schools and school boards throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

"I commend the report�s authors for undertaking this important study of a complex issue which clearly needs to be addressed," Minister Ottenheimer said. "While I have not yet had an opportunity to review the report in detail, I have read the recommendations and my initial reaction is that I fundamentally agree with many of them."

Minister Ottenheimer said he will take time to thoroughly review the report and consider the implications of the recommendations. In the meantime, he noted he has already met with representatives of both the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of School Councils (NLFSC) and the Newfoundland and Labrador School Boards Association (NLSBA) and has made a commitment to explore what changes can, and should, be made to policies surrounding school fees.

"Our first course of action will be to ask school boards, through the NLSBA, to work with us to develop policies around the standardization of school fees," Minister Ottenheimer said. "The wide variation in school fees policies recorded from school-to-school, and from region-to-region, is an issue which frustrates and confuses parents each year. It is clear to me that a review of this issue is long overdue."

Minister Ottenheimer said the Community Services Council report is a valuable contribution to the public discussion on school fees and he welcomes this latest input. He further noted the Department of Education will be represented at a CSC-sponsored panel discussion entitled The Ins and Outs of Child Poverty to be held November 28 at the MacMorran Community Centre, where the issue of inclusion and exclusion in schools is on the agenda.

Media contact: Nora Daly, Communications (709) 729-1906

2003 11 26                                         4:20 p.m.