School Fees

 

 School Fees 2023/2024 

The Board of Education reviews fees for schools and academies every school year. The School Act section 82 permits a Board to charge a deposit for educational resources. Boards may also charge fees for materials, supplies, equipment and instruments not considered educational resource materials. Schools may charge deposits for materials given to students and provide refunds upon return. 

Standard District Fees 

  • Graduation Fee (basic cost): up to $75 
  • Student Activity Fee for Secondary Schools: $25 Covers the costs of guest speakers, school events and activities, student recognition, student leadership, celebrations, and lockers. 

Specialty/Certification Fees 

Materials and equipment beyond that which is necessary to meet the required learning outcomes. i.e. woodworking: upgrading from pine to oak for a particular project. Certification fees for courses such as Food Safe and First Aid are charged at a cost recovery basis. Please contact your child’s school to confirm fees/upgrade costs. 

Specialty Value Added PE Courses 

Fees range from $100 to $300 per year depending on program expenses, for example: 

  • Rock Climbing $100 
  • Ice Hockey $300 
  • Soccer $300 

Please contact your child’s school to confirm fees. 

Academy Fees 

  • Cowichan Secondary School Rugby Academy Fee $550 per month or $5,500 per year for local students, BC students and Canadian students enrolling from other provinces and territories, and $1,500 per month or $15,000 per school year for International students. 
  • Cowichan Open School Performing Arts Academy Fee $325 per month or $3,250 per year. 
  • Frances Kelsey Secondary School Hockey Academy Fee $300 per year. 
  • Frances Kelsey Secondary School Soccer Academy Fee $300 per year. 

Academies with no fees 

  • Frances Kelsey Secondary School Trails Outdoor Academy. 
  • Frances Kelsey Secondary School Fine Arts Academy. 
  • Frances Kelsey Secondary School Computer Studies Academy. 

Refundable Deposits 

Refundable deposits will be collected for educational resource materials such as textbooks, reusable workbooks and novels. Refunds will be issued once students have returned the educational resource materials. 

In some secondary schools the refundable textbook deposit is applied to the graduation fee unless otherwise specified by parent(s).

Secondary School Textbook Deposits
Chemainus Secondary $25 (refundable)
Cowichan Secondary $25 (refundable)
Frances Kelsey Secondary $25 (refundable)
Lake Cowichan School $25 (refundable)
Quamichan School $25 (refundable)
Alternate Ed Programs N/A
Distributed Learning K-12 $50 (refundable)

 Hardship 

Where financial hardship exists that would prevent student participation in a curricular or co-curricular activity, fees will be waived. Fees and deposits will not become a barrier to participation in required activities or programs as per Admin Procedure 506 – Financial Hardship.