New provincial regulations regarding school fees and transportation costs shouldn't have any noticeable impact on students or their parents in the region, said Chinook's Edge School Division superintendent Kurt Sacher.
"We just have to do a quick re-examination of some administrative procedures and tweak them about, but we feel we have things pretty much in place and ready to go," said Sacher.
"The government already compensated us for the funding we lost, so we were pleased with that and able to move ahead without any financial impact that way.
"The students shouldn't notice anything other than their parents might be little happier when they don't have fees to pay."
There are 40 schools in the Chinook's Edge School Division, including in Olds, Sundre, Didsbury, Carstairs and Cremona.
The School Fees and Costs Regulation and the School Transportation Regulation were both signed into law on June 5.
The new regulations remove the ability of school boards to charge for textbooks, workbooks, printing, photocopying and paper as well as bus fees for students living 2.4 kilometres or more from their designated school, the province says.
Busing fees have also been eliminated for special needs students and kindergarten students travelling home over the noon hour.
Students who live 2.4 kilometres or more from their designated school and take municipal transit will only pay the difference between provincial transportation funding and the cost of a municipal transit pass.
"Our government is reducing school fees as we work to protect and improve education and make life better for Alberta families," said Minister of Education David Eggen.
"These fees have gone unregulated for too long and most significant increases will now require my review and approval.
"We will continue to work with parents, school boards and other education partners to make even further reductions to fees in the years ahead."
Under the new regulations, ministerial approval is now required for fees increasing by more than five per cent year-over-year.
Sacher says that change shouldn't impact things in Chinook's Edge.
"Our board hasn't increased fees for years so that doesn't bother us at all," said Sacher. "We've already told our people, our administrators and whatnot, that the spirit of what is happening with fees is that we really shouldn't be making any increase of any significance in any area.
"We are confident that we aren't going to see big increases anywhere else."
School boards are currently responsible for setting school fees within the five per cent limit.
Allison Pike, president of the Alberta School Councils' Association, said the new regulations are welcome.
"We commend the Education Ministry for working to reduce school fees paid by Alberta parents," said Pike.
"School councils look forward to consultations supporting this legislation as an important step in ensuring the success of all students."
