Student Assistance for Purchasing Materials
As a Distance Education Student, each student in entitled up to $600.00 every year in supplemental resource funding (prorated to their FTE, so a student who is less than Full Time has their rate prorated). Note the following:
The guidelines are listed below for accessing these funds.
Talk to your teacher about accessing the funds as the teacher and school administrator approve all purchases.
GROW must make all purchases (we cannot reimburse parents/guardians for their expenses).
Payments to Third Party Service Providers
As per the Guidelines for independent school authorities operating an online learning school - third party services and resources, if an authority uses a third party to provide educational services or learning support, materials, or resources to learners, the Ministry expects the authority to do the following:
- Ensure that the educational services, materials, and resources are part of the educational program supervised by an authority employee who is a BC certified teacher or Letter of Permission holder.
- Pay only the third party directly and not the parent, learner, or any other person.
- Ensure that parents and third-party service providers clearly understand their roles and responsibilities for student safety and security.
- Clearly describe the authority’s responsibility to provide the program outlined in a student’s learning plan or Individual Education Plan separately from additional services the student may receive from the third-party service provider.
If an authority uses a third party to provide educational services or learning support, materials, or resources to learners, the Ministry expects the authority to pay only up to a maximum of $600 per FTE in grades K-12 for reimbursements to third party resources and service providers.
This limit to the amount of the operating grant to be used for third party resourcing would not apply to:
- Supporting students with special needs in levels 1, 2 and 3 special needs supplementary funding categories and special needs categories K,P,Q,R, in achieving the curriculum learning standards and/or goals in their Individual Education Plans (see the Ministry’s Special Education Services: A Manual of Policies, Procedures and Guidelines)
- Career technical centre program courses
- Post-secondary transition program courses
Limits to financial assistance for learners or their parents:
- The Ministry expects that independent school authorities will not provide financial payments or reimbursements to learners or their parents, nor use any amount of money budgeted to support an educational program as an incentive to have a learner enroll in an online learning program or course.
- An independent school authority may provide financial assistance to learners or their parents for a portion of the one-time internet connection fees, if and only if the learner requires an internet connection to participate in an educational program delivered in whole or in part through online learning. Connection means cost of the household connection to the internet. It does not include ongoing maintenance.
- An independent school authority may lend, but not give, equipment with an asset value (such as a computer that is required for participation in an online learning program or course) to learners or to parents or families of learners.