Fees in Ontario secondary schools, 2007

pdf 252 kb Published 2007

People for Education, 2007.

This report shows fees for courses, student activities and athletics are rising in Ontario secondary schools.  Revenue is neither equitably distributed among schools nor consistently accounted for.

Based on data from our annual school survey, the report finds:

  • 17% of secondary schools charge fees for second language classes and 14% charge fees for science—both courses in which one or more credits are mandatory for graduation.
  • 6% charge fees for English classes, which are mandatory in every grade.
  • some schools raise under $1,000 per year in course fees alone; others raising over $90,000. Only a small portion of this discrepancy among schools can be explained by school size.
  • Student Activity Fees range from a low of  $5 to a high of $100 per student.
  • Athletic Fees have also increased steadily over the last 10 years. This year, Athletic fees ranged from a
    low of $10 to a high of $1,800. The highest fee this year is more than twenty times higher than the top
    fee in 2000/01.