Sudden cut to independent online learning alarms families, schools

The B.C. government says slashing the budget for independent online schooling is aimed at making independent education funding more “consistent,” both for virtual and brick-and-mortar schools, but supporters of the online schools say the justification doesn’t measure up.

The Ministry of Education announced last week it would cut funding for online Independent Distributed Learning by 21 per cent, saying the online schools would be funded at the same rate as physical independent schools.

Online school proponents, however, say the explanation for the $12-million reduction doesn’t hold up to close analysis and the cut may jeopardize the future of the 16 IDLs in the province and make it more difficult for families to enrol their children in them.

B.C. is home to a single Catholic IDL, ASCEND Online, which operates under the auspices of the Catholic school board in Kamloops and serves more than 400 students. As well, many Catholic families are enrolled in Traditional Learning Academy Online in the Lower Mainland.

“This announcement was a complete surprise and shock to us and comes at a time that makes the decision absolutely deplorable,” Lynn Hale, ASCEND Online principal, said in a letter to provincial politicians. “The suggestion from the ministry that we charge tuition at this time of financial hardship for so many British Columbians is a preposterous one.”

TLA founder Allan Garneau says the government’s funding rationale glosses over the fact that regular independent schools receive an annual operating grant of about $4,500 a year per pupil. On the other hand, IDL schools received an annual grant of just $3,843 a pupil before the cut, and will now get only $3,050. 

“Please, will someone tell me how this achieves equity,” Garneau said.

Independent distributed learning schools have been receiving 63 per cent of the provincial per-student funding that public school DL students receive, which now drops to 50 per cent – the same proportion that independent brick-and-mortar schools receive in comparison with public schools.

Nevertheless, the announced cut has “got some bite to it,” notes Holly Paluck, superintendent of Catholic Independent Schools—Kamloops Diocese. She said the budget reduction, which will take effect next school year, works out to about $800 per student. “It’s a challenging time to cut funding, obviously in the middle of a pandemic, and when so many people are out of work and at home, and some of them are impacted quite severely,” Paluck said.

The Vancouver Sun reported the previous Liberal government increased funding for independent school online learning in the 2012/2013 school year after IDL schools showed they weren’t able to provide a B.C. education with any less funding.

It’s uncertain how the online schools will adjust to the funding cut, but MLA Dan Davies, Opposition education critic, worries that the loss of $12 million “will severely impact the programming, staffing, and resources available for these schools, and will have a trickle-down effect for the thousands of students enrolled in IDL programs across B.C.”

Unlike homeschooling, distributed learning connects students with B.C.-certified teachers who work with them on a course of study, assess student progress, and provide report cards.

A major concern is that some IDLs, which don’t currently charge tuition, will have to do so, having an impact that will fall heavily on one-income families who are already paying for books, supplies, and other course materials.

Marie Klaponski’s family is one such family. She and her husband, parishioners at Precious Blood in Surrey, long ago made the decision that she would stay home fulltime to look after their five home-learning children, who are enrolled in TLA Online. 

“We’ve made significant financial sacrifices,” she said. “The sudden nature of [the budget cut] is the biggest worry for me. We’ve already made plans for next year. Typically in May we are acquiring resources for next year, and all of that is on hold because we don’t know – the schools don’t know how much money they’re going to have to work with.”

The possible imposition of tuition is a concern. “We’d find a way to come up with it,” said Klaponski, who has overseen her children’s education for 10 years. “But it would be a struggle on an income that already struggles to make ends meet in the Lower Mainland.”

For now, Klaponski has joined hundreds of other IDL families in writing, emailing, and phoning the provincial government, asking for the funding decision to be reversed.

Nearly 1,000 concerned individuals have joined a Facebook group called Restore BC’s IDL Funding Levels, while a Change.org petition calling for the government to reconsider its decision currently has more than 8,500 signatures. 

Pressure is also coming from the Federation of Independent School Associations in B.C., whose executive director, Shawn Chisholm, wants to “see if we can get a resolution” to the issue. He is currently trying to meet with Education Minister Rob Fleming.

For now, though, the ministry is refusing further public comment.