iN NUMBERS: Back to school fees in Kamloops, Okanagan add up

As kids take a moment of silence to mourn the end of summer vacation, a lot of parents take a moment to tally up the cost of going back to school. On top of books, shoes and a cool new lunchbox, public schools charge parents fees for add-ons like supplies and extra activities.

School districts aren’t allowed to charge families for anything students need to graduate and parents can apply to get school fees waived due to financial hardship. But, these fees are still another part of back to school eating into families’ budgets.

How are you doing with school fees this year? Want to talk about it? Email reporter Jesse Tomas at jtomas@infonews.ca.

Here are the numbers:

• 70: Dollars. That’s how much the fees are for elementary school students in Vernon for things like supplies and special activities.
• 6: That’s how many optional fees there are for students in the Central Okanagan Public Schools district; school supply fee, cultural fee, student activity fee, transportation fee, academy fees and goods and services fees.
• 75: Dollars. That’s how much the fees are for students in Central Okanagan for things like supplies and special activities, not including transportation and some other optional fees.
• 33,519: Dollars. That’s the annual salary cut off to get school fees waived in the Central Okanagan for a family of one adult and one child.
• 160: Dollars. That’s the graduation fee for students at Summerland Secondary School who want to attend the graduation ceremony.
• 100: Dollars. That’s the transportation fee for students in the Okanagan Skaha School District.
• 85: Courses or special programs in the Kamloops-Thompson School District charge additional fees ranging from $5 for an e-commerce course to $385 for the aquatics academy.
• 2006: That was the year the BC Supreme Court ruled that school districts can’t charge students for anything required to finish a course leading to graduation.
• 600: Dollars. That’s the low end of the average spending per child for back to school in Canada this year.