International students have become a growing part in the public school system as school districts look for additional ways to bring in revenue.
In the Sea to Sky School District, the board of education agreed at the latest meeting to raise fees charged to international students.
“There are more and more districts increasing their homestay fees,” said board chair Rick Price.
The international education program has expanded in recent years in the Sea to Sky, bringing in students from approximately 30 countries for either a half year or full year.
The costs to run the program are increasing, though, both to the district and families that host students while they are studying in the community.
Staff provided information on costs both for the coming school year as well as 2017-2018, which is when the changes will take effect. Homestay costs will be going up by $200 a month for each area of the corridor to reflect the costs for homestay families for expenses.
“It’s not fair to make them pay out of pocket,” assistant superintendent Jodi Langlois told trustees.
For the district, the concern is the ability to recruit and retain host families, which could be affected if host families have to make up for increasing costs such as food.
A second increase reflects questions about insurance. At present, students cover their health care. However, the school district now is facing costs to cover what is often termed “mysterious loss” by insurance providers.
The term typically refers to items that go missing from theft when non-family members are staying in a home. Usually, this means boarders in a home, and the district has found that insurers treat international students as boarders. Many insurance companies, Langlois explained, will not cover homes if the residents have a boarder, which puts the district in the position of adding to its coverage.
With the board’s increase, the cost of insurance will go up by $100 for one semester and by $200 for a full year.
“We can now provide coverage to all homestay families,” she said.
Langlois admits the need to provide for mysterious loss seems a little odd as she is not aware of any of the province’s 60 districts having theft problems associated with international students in homestay programs.
In all, over the full 10 months of the school year, the increase in 2017-2018 should amount to $2,000 a year charged to students living with homestay families, plus the extra $200 for the insurance.
When theses changes take effect, homestay costs for students in Squamish and Pemberton will be $1,100 a month, and in Whistler, $1,200 a month.
At $13,000 for a full year and $6,500 for a half year, tuition is still the biggest cost for students that want to study in the Sea to Sky district.
There are additional costs for application, a homestay placement fee, airport pickup and validation of transcripts.
“We did the homework to make sure we weren’t being unreasonable,” Langlois said.
The Ministry of Education does not keep specific data on average costs for international student programs around B.C. A cursory Internet search of districts revealed costs for a couple of programs. For example, the Saanich district is charging $22,950 for a full 10-month year, with tuition and homestay representing the largest portions. In Vancouver, for the coming year, the cost comes out to $14,000 for tuition and $900 a month for the homestay fee.
In the Sea to Sky District, trustees also passed motions approving international student fees at the elementary and secondary levels, which according to staff will bring in no significant changes.
In elementary, the costs cover small items such as supply packages and other optional costs such as recorders or field trips.
At the secondary level, included are costs for locks, grad and student activity fees, as well as larger fees associated for academy programs.
