Alberta Home Education Association

There have been changes to the funding manual this year that have clarified payments from associate boards to parents. Please exercise caution and carefully inquire with whatever associate board you are notifying with if you hear differently. There should not be more than the $850 issued to you as a home educator when you do 100% of the work, and in a shared responsibility situation it will be even less.

Ambiguity about the clarity of the amount will not be allowed. The full and maximum amount of $850 is the parent's to use within the Standards of Reimbursements and your program plan. There is the NEW ability for parents to subsidize their board and sign over some or all of your funds from your $850 portion of the grant for educational supports only. Your signature on a Parent Declaration Form will be required for these transactions to be authorized.

NEW THIS YEAR - Look for the new allowed 100% allowance on lessons and tangible assets! Also 75% receipts = full refund of your grant (no more worrying about yard or secondhand sale purchases receipts being acceptable if they are only 25% of your purchases per child.)

AHEA is working for YOU!!

D1.6 of the 20/21 Funding Manual*

6. An associate board or associate accredited funded private school must offer to the parents of a home education student no less than 50 per cent of the home education funding for the purchase of instructional materials. Parents have up to two years to access the parental portion of home education funding.

13. Reimbursements to parents of students in a Home Education or Shared Responsibility program, may not exceed $850.00 in value per year and are subject to the same reimbursement interpretations as the Standards for Home Education Reimbursement, whether they are reimbursements, ordered by purchase order or directly procured by school or district. 

*AHEA continues to work with the Education Minister, her Office and her Dept. Further revisions are forthcoming as the language continues to be tweaked to ensure everyone understands the guidelines.

                                           AHEA – Working for You!

AHEA is very pleased to announce that the updated version of the Alberta Education Funding Manual for the 2020/21 school year released on June 18^th, 2020 contains many of the great improvements for home educators which we have been busy advocating for. Considering where the discussion started, which was that home education would be included in the weighted moving average policies like school based model funding, we have come a long way. Home education funding, therefore, has managed to successfully maintain many of the necessary considerations for our unique model, and has changes in several areas.

The following are basically quoted from the guide itself, with comments by AHEA's Government Liaison italicized, if given. Some of the information is repeated for your information and clarity in general.

• September 30^th enrollment deadline for home education.
• Must reside in Alberta on the September count date of the current school year.
• 50% of the funding grant is available directly to parents/guardians as reimbursement for instructional materials and services that support the instructional program at home.
• Education plans must be consistent with the learning outcomes… in the Alberta Program of Study or stated in the schedule attached to the Home Education Regulations. Further information will be provided in the coming weeks after the Home Education Regulations are updated, pending the passing of Bill 15 and the clarification on a new option for Notification Only, No Funding (NONF). Currently you can wait or register under any option available, and feel free to move before the Sept. 30^th cutoff date.
• The associate board (that you notify with) must provide the resident board information through PASI and Student records. This is not new, but all home educators should know that their student information and funding is processed this way, without exception.
• An associate board or associate accredited funded private school must offer to the parents of a home educated student no less than 50% of the home education funding for the purchase of instructional materials.
  
  

• Parents who submit receipts for at least 75% of eligible expenses will receive the entire $850.00. This will allow purchases between people, garage sales, etc. to focus more on the purchase than the paperwork. Just note that it will not be allowed if you don't provide the first 75% of documented receipts.
• The Standards for Home Education Reimbursement have been updated and are good for you to reference while planning for next year. You should note that items need to be necessary for and related to your student's program (this is important to qualify for the funding) and paid for and supported by invoices. You may reference them anytime, but important to note now are the following items which have been made 100% eligible. (Keep in mind the note about regarding 75% back up provided and 25% backup note required IF the 75% is documented.)
  • Lessons – including, but not limited to, music, swimming and language…
  • Tangible assets – e.g. cameras, telescopes, musical instruments, physical education equipment, sewing machines.
• Parents have up to two years to access the parental portion of home education funding. Parents are guaranteed the option of rolling over their funding by the government, not their associate board. This should not be seen as an allowance but as a right you are entitled to everywhere you may choose to register without exception.
• Parents will be allowed to transfer some or all of the parental portion of the home education funding (your $850) to the associate school authority for education supports should they choose to. If parents decide to transfer their funding, they will be required to sign a Parent Declaration Form to facilitate this transfer. This option allows you to allocate your funding to an associate board instead of having unused funds return to AB Education. Some may choose to easy the tax payer burden. Others may wish to support an associate board, which will be limited in their use of the funds to educational supports, not general or discretionary use. This is important for us all, as we desire clear accountability to parents and the government for funding usage, critical in the reputation of our home education model.
• If parents decline or do not claim the parent portion of the Home Education funding, Alberta Education will recover the unclaimed/declined portion, the year following the previous two year period. You don't have to worry about this, as your associate board will handle the paperwork based on your choice and submissions. Do be aware, however, that the carry-forward allotment should always be considered 'used first' by your associate board, so that you have the maximum flexibility and use of your funds.
  
  

• Home education / Shared Responsibility students are not eligible for severe disabilities funding. We continue to work on special needs funding as an item that should be dealt with apart from their educational model choice. Students should not be discriminated against because of their preference.
  
  

This is a significant clarification by Alberta Education. Many people considering home education, and weighing the choice of parent directed versus teacher directed, have looked at funding differences as a deciding factor. The clarification by the government that NO additional funding be provided by ANY method, was necessary and closes a loophole that had been abused. Any additional funds that a shared responsibility program receives are to be used to pay for the teacher portion only. Parents are not eligible for extra perks – so getting them should make us stop and look harder, not away.

• Students that are coded as shared responsibility students and meet the program requirement outlined in The Guide to Education will be funded at the shared responsibility rate. Shared responsibility programs receive additional funding to address instructional costs.
• In order to qualify for shared responsibility funding, at least 20 percent of the program must be delivered by the school authority, up to a maximum of 80 percent, and be teacher-directed. Below this range, the student should be enrolled as a regular home education student. Above this range, the student should be enrolled as a regular/online student, with the school authority responsible for 100 percent of the program and the parents not eligible for any home education funding.
• School authorities that provide shared responsibility program may use some or all of the parents' 50 per cent funding, only with parent's signed agreement, to pay for the cost of these courses and required instructional materials.
• Reimbursements to parents of students in a Home Education or Shared Responsibility program, may not exceed $850.00 in value per year and are subject to the same reimbursement interpretations as the Standards for Home Education Reimbursement, whether they are reimbursements, ordered by purchase order or directly procured by school or district. Note the lack of exception for payments by another means. Going around direct funding for you as the parents is no longer a loophole to be exploited.
  
  

This is critical to understand, given the recent impact on choices to educate at home. Online school is not the same as home education. There should be no funds provided to the families when the teacher directed program is the model chosen. There should be no exceptions. 

• School authorities are not permitted to provide funding, whether by reimbursement, purchase order or direct procurement, to students or families in cases where a student is enrolled in an online or regular school program.
  
  
  

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Overall, the clarification for home educators in all matters of funding is not only necessary to understand, but critical to ensure that proper stewardship is maintained by everyone. AHEA families would be wise to seek to ensure that there are not instances of exceptions to these guidelines, as that reflects badly on our community, deteriorating trust internally and externally. Help us help you!

AHEA is pleased with the efforts of Education Minister LaGrange and her office to listen well to the comments and the concerns presented. If you have suggestions or recommendations for changes you'd like to see advocated for, you should approach AHEA directly for us to be able to respond appropriately and through the proper channels. We have witnessed and see before us the results of good advocacy and listening by an Education department who wished to ensure parental choice in the system based on respect for all the models under its care. Home education is a valid and valuable choice that all Albertans can and should consider when making education choices for their children.  

THIS IS IMPORTANT…

Your summer issue of AHEA Home Matters is now available – online only, for members only! Due to adjustments resulting from the covid situation, this will be the norm for the foreseeable future. It is still the same great magazine with all our government updates and articles that keep you informed about what is happening in Alberta on the homeschooling front. Plus, there are other great articles geared to encourage you as you continue on in the adventure of homeschooling your own children. Hear from our President, our Government Liaison, and our Editor; as they share from their hearts about their own experiences. Read about others and their insights as they seek God's best for them and their families. Hear how AHEA is striving and advocating for you in our ever shifting relativistic society.
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU!

How to Access: You can access the Home Matters 2020 Summer issue by logging into our website as a member, and navigating to 'Home Matters Access' under the 'Membership' tab.

TO HELP US HELP YOU…

Like everyone else, the covid situation has hit our organization too. With the loss of the convention and the subsequent revenues that this generates it will be critical that we have your support as we go forward. We are already planning for our 2021 Convention, but would like to encourage you to renew your membership as soon as possible. Many renew theirs at the Convention and so this loss is also felt. Unless you have already renewed yours, your present membership expires September 30th. To vote at next year's AGM, you will need to renew before December 31, 2020. I recommend that you renew sooner, as opposed to later, so that you can continue to access our online 'Home Matters Magazine' and receive other updates that are sent out exclusively to our members.

PLEASE STAND WITH US AS WE STAND FOR YOU! 

Bill 15 passed second reading in the Legislature on June 9, 2020. The Bill is now 'In Committee Of The Whole' which means that the whole Legislature will discuss possible amendments, which could be considered. AHEA is satisfied with the wording of the Bill's support of home education, which reinforces the primacy of a parent's right to choose the education of their child, the acknowledgement of home education as an equal choice and makes possible the additional option of notification only, no funding because of the phrase, 'supervision, if any' being clarified. Home educators should support this Bill and reaching out to your politicians at this time to encourage them would be wise. You can find your MLAs on AHEA's new page "How to Contact YOUR Politicians."

AHEA has been working with the Minister's Office and Alberta Education throughout this process. More work is required as we move to the Home Education Regulations being amended by Minister LaGrange to flesh out Bill 15's intentions. This is a work in progress, and while there is much anticipation in wanting to know how the Regulations will read, please be patient while we await the actual wording.

AHEA's continued interaction with the government has allowed us to reinforce that when we have advocated for a Notification Only option, we did mean 'only,' not 'plus!' AHEA has never suggested that a parent submit a notification plan directly to the government. The discussion around the parent's responsibility for the education plan of the child is being worked on as I write this. If the Minister wishes to provide a distinct, new option, it must be different from what we already have access to, and Ontario provides an example. We feel that our position is clearly understood, and efforts to continue communicating are mutual. Your continued prayers are appreciated while we work.

You will be informed as soon as there is more formal news. It is no surprise that there is opposition to this from other groups. While we do not feel the need to respond directly, we do encourage our members to exercise caution in what they may read as it may not fully present the information you seek in a positive or appropriate context. We also encourage all members to be unified in the expansion of home education options, regardless of it being a choice that you would consider in your own family situation. As a community, standing together and supporting each other in strengthening home education in law, regulation and perception is a work that we share. Being wise in our words, patient while awaiting facts and persevering in the pursuit of our goals will make each AHEA member an asset.

Keep your eyes open for further updates, expected shortly, with exciting information on more changes to our funding guidelines and the standards of reimbursements. 

AHEA is very pleased to announce that the proposed Bill 15 Choice in Education Act, tabled today in the AB Legislature, will make significant steps in affirming parental choice. This work was the result of a platform mandate, as well as the processing of over 50,000 survey responses from Albertans. Home educators made significant efforts in responding and our voice, at 5.3% of the respondents, considering our volume, was noteworthy, showing that approx. 25% of home educators were active in this government survey of the community. This speaks to the active civil engagement that is so important to home educators.

Minister LaGrange has said, "If passed, the bill will amend the Education Act to affirm that parents, not politicians, have the right to choose the kind of education they feel is best for their children. It will strengthen Alberta's successful history of education choice, including public and separate schools, francophone schools, charter schools, independent (private) schools, home education and early childhood education."

Highlights of the changes significant to home education are as follows:

• It adds a statement from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (section 26.3) to the preamble of the Education Act that states, "Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children."
• It adds a statement to the preamble of the Education Act:
  WHEREAS the Government of Alberta recognizes: public schools, separate schools, francophone schools, private schools, charter schools, early childhood services programs, the provision of alternative programs, and home education programs as being valued and integral in providing choice in education to students and parents.
• It amends the Home Education Programs section of the Education Act (section 20) to allow for an unsupervised, notification-only, non-funded home education program.
  Annual notification of the intent to homeschool will be required as well as submission (not approval) of a home education plan/program that demonstrates sufficient opportunity to achieve, to an acceptable level, appropriate learning outcomes.
  
  

We are gratified to see the steps taken today will strengthen a parent's inherent ability to care for their child's best interests. It should also put to rest the validity of that interest being intertwined with their child's, and not at odds with it.

You may read the full Alberta News Release here.