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With the start of the new school year just weeks away, Greater Victoria School Board trustee John Young headed to the B.C. Supreme Court on Monday to try to get school course fees banned across the province.
The veteran trustee won a similar legal fight with his own school district back in 1997.
Young says the extra charges contravene the B.C. School Act and are discriminatory — creating a two-tiered education system.
Victoria school trustee John Young: 'When fees are imposed on courses, it prevents certain children from taking because they haven't got the money to do so.'
(CBC)
"When fees are imposed on courses, it prevents certain children from taking because they haven't got the money to do so," he told CBC News.
Young argues that the legislation is based on the principle that the education of children should be free of extra charges, "so that every child rich or poor has an equal opportunity to an education."
The Ministry of Education maintains that school boards have a right to charge for course outside the core curriculum.
Those fees can cost families more than $100 a year for each student.
The case is being heard in Victoria.
Young, a school trustee for the past 14 years, was once a high school principal.
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