School fees were a topic of discussion at the May 20 Foothills School Board meeting.

Assistant Superintendent Drew Chipman says the board is looking at the 2019-2020 fees that have not been paid, that normally at this time would have gone to collections.

"They opted to communicate to families that we'd certainly work with them, provide them the opportunity and flexibility to pay for this year and next year's fees and they can even carry that forward to next year if that's what works for them," he says. "Certainly look to arrange for payment plans or deferring them if that's something that's beneficial to them."

Chipman says when COVID-19 hit, they understood the financial position a lot of families were in and put a hold on collections.

He says the unpaid fees amount to a little over a quarter of a million dollars from the budget.

There's a waiver of fees, under policy AP-156, that can be applied for on the school division web site and the board's decided to extend the application deadline for that.

 

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email news@okotoksonline.com