A longtime Victoria school trustee is taking the B.C. government to court in an effort to stop school districts from charging course fees for mandatory materials or equipment.

Trustee John Young won a similar case against his own school board back in 1997, and now he's filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court to ban course fees province-wide.

"I'm trying to fight for free education for all children in the province."

Trustee John Young wants to stop schools charging course fees.
(CBC)

The B.C. School Act forbids schools from charging fees for necessary educational resource materials, but a ministerial order says districts may charge fees.

Young complains that the fees, which he calls "outrageous," create a two-tiered education system.

"Quite apart from that fact that these fees are not necessary, they are illegal because the School Act states that all the learning, that all the course materials, must be supplied free of charge."

He says the provincial legislation states that all students should have access to all courses, including electives. But he notes the fees mean some students from poorer families get shut out.

"These children often do not select courses in schools which they'd like to take because they cannot afford the fees," he told CBC News.

"Education is supposed to be free of charge in the public school system, and all children are supposed to be treated equally."

The fees can add up to more than $100 per year for each student. 

Young says the Victoria school district still offers a full range of electives with free materials. 

Young has been a trustee for 14 years and used to be a school principal.