HCOS Tuition & Resources

This page provides information and details regarding changestuition made& bycurriculum HCOSresources dueat to the funding cut implemented by the Ministry of Education.HCOS.

On this page you will find:

• FundingTuition Cut:at WhereHCOS: WeWhy FindIt 21%Exists
• Tuition, Tuition Assistance & Resource Budgets
• K-9
• Community Connections (CC) & CC+ 
• Grad Program
• Cross-Enrolment
• Home School Registered
• PO Spending
• HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign

Please note that the structure below is subject to change as we work to provide flexibility and reduce family impact over time wherever possible.

FundingTuition Cut:at WhereHCOS: WeWhy FindIt 21%Exists

TheIn May of 2020, the Ministry of Education’s decision toEducation cut Independent DLDistributed Learning (DL) funding by 21%, or $793 per student,student. hasThis resulted in significant challenges to our school budget. The hard reality is that this cut impacts all of us. As an IDL with low funding rates, HCOS already runslean a leanschool budget. Our amazing teachers and staff sacrifice financially to work for an Independent DL school, which is one key reason we have been able to provide IDL education without adding a tuition to the out-of-pocket expenses you already incur as families.

However, in order to continue providing the services that HCOS does, this reduction in funding resulted in the need to make adjustments. Here is how HCOS is making up the reduced funding amount:

1. Tuition charges have been instituted.
2. Resource budgets have been reduced. 
3. WeSignificant have gone over every line item in our budget and madeinternal cuts to all areas of the school’s operation. The focus was on efficiencies in processes and staffing rather than than items that would impact the programming or resources available for students.

Tuition, Tuition Assistance & Resource Budgets

HCOS strongly believes in providing flexible options to families. The results from the Family Impact Survey confirmed this is what families are looking for.

We recognize that paying tuition to home educate is difficult. HCOS is committed to keeping this as minimal as possible and looking for opportunities to reduce or eliminate this impact where needed.we can.

We are also committed to pursuing additional revenue streams in order to decrease family impact over time.

Our community is our priority. In determining internal cuts and family impact, we focused on ensuring students still have access to the support and guidance from our excellent teachers, grad advisors, administration and educational assistants. Resources like online subscriptions and learning commons kits and books are available to help reduce the cost of purchasing additional curriculum. 

K-9 Tuition & Resource Budget

* Tax receipting is still in process to determine if a worthwhile portion of tuition is eligible based on CRA regulations

K-9 Tuition Assistance Options

Home educating already requires financial sacrifice. In order to ensure that no student is unable to enrolenroll due to finances, we are providing two assistance options:

** Bursary allocation will be determined by the volume of bursary applications and the available bursary finances. See below for more details on the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign

Special Education

To help simplify student budgeting and continue flexibility with SE student support, SE students will have their curriculum and SE budgets combined. A single system of managing funds and resources will allow for greater flexibility as determined by the student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). SE students will be issued a PO number.

K-9 FAQs

Please see our Tuition & Bursary Family FAQs page for many more additional questions and answers.

I have a student in the Grad Program. Do they count as the first student in the family?
No. The student count is limited to K-9 students. Grad Program students have a different tuition structure (see below).

Am I able to help other families with tuition costs?
Absolutely! Please see the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign below for information on how to give. This gift would be eligible for a tax receipt as per the standard charitable donation rate.

Are there other ways I can help my fellow home educators?
Yes. Help your fellow home school families save money on curriculum by returning the school’s curriculum for reuse in the Learning Commons. When we can provide less expensive used curriculum for our families, they don’t need to use as much of their resource budgets to buy new instructional materials.

How can you help?

• Return materials by post or in person to:
  • 905 Badke Road,
  • Kelowna BC, V1X 5Z5
• Return materials directly to your support teacher

Something’s Not Adding Up

“Wait a minute ... I’m now paying $200 in tuition and losing $400 in resource budget. That seems like a lot more than that pie chart up above showed.”

It definitely seems like that. The challenge is that $1,000 per K-9 student is not what was actually spent by families. The average spent per student was $835 or 83.5%. The remaining $165 was used in other areas of the school such as the Learning Commons, Learning Camps, Community Connections and so on. This means the average family impact is $200 tuition plus $235 reduction in resource budget, for a total of $435.

With lower resource budgets, we now expect the average spending to be 100%. Therefore, the school must find that $165 per student internally on top of the other internal cuts. We understand that your family may be one that used the full $1,000 per student in resource funding and that this affects you more than a family that did not. Our goal is that in time our bursary program, along with other revenue generating initiatives, will be able to help increase resource budgets and minimize tuition.

Community Connections (CC) & CC+

For Community Connections (CC) and CC+ tuitiontuition, will not increase but stay at the same level as previous years. Pleaseplease see the Learning Groups website for further information and registration.

Grad Program Tuition & Resource Budgets

The Grad Program functions per course, not as a whole student. Please keep that in mind in contrast to K-9.

* For the purposes of course counts, a “year” is considered to be the period from the May funding snapshot to the following May funding snapshot (typically in the first weekFriday of May). Courses that remain inactive by the end of the year will be removed without a refund.
** Tax receipting is still in process to determine if a worthwhile portion of tuition is eligible based on CRA regulations

Grad Program Tuition Assistance Options

Home educating already requires financial sacrifice. In order to ensure that no student is unable to enrolenroll due to finances, we are providing a tuition assistance option:

*** Bursary allocation will be determined by the volume of bursary applications and the available bursary finances. See below for more details on the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign

Special Education

To help simplify student budgeting and continue flexibility with SE student support, SE students will have their curriculum and SE budgets combined. A single system of managing funds and resources will allow for greater flexibility as determined by the student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). SE students will be issued a PO number.

Grad Program FAQs

Please see our Tuition & Bursary Family FAQs page for many more additional questions and answers.

Can I access a K-9 sibling’s resource budget for my grad student if needed?
Yes. We will continue to treat resource budgets as a family budget in terms of accessibility for any student in the family.

Am I able to help other families with tuition costs?
Absolutely! Please see the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign below for information on how to give. This gift would be eligible for a tax receiptablereceipt as per the standard charitable donation rate.

Cross EnrolmentEnrollment Tuition & Fees

Cross Enrollment Tuition Assistance Options

There are no tuition assistance or bursary options available for cross enrollment.

Home School Registered

PO Spending

ThankPO younumbers for your patience! The current pause on PO spending is now lifted and a maximum of $350 per K-9 student can be spent if you are committed to staying with HCOS. Once we have established which resource budget amountspending yourare student(s)typically will bereleased at forHCOS 20/21,Connect theneach PO spending can increase up to $600 if applicable.

For Grad Program students, any Individualized courses active prior to June 30, 2020 will be fundedyear at the oldend of April. Once tuition is paid, the full resource rate.budget Anyis coursesreleased. activePlease from July 1, 2020 onward will be atsee the newK-9 tuition table above for details on partial resource ratefunding ofrelease $50with forthe individualizedmonthly electivetuition coursespayment only.

SE students will be issued a PO number.option.

HCOS Forward Together Bursary

Forward Together is about ensuring families have the freedom of choice in how to educate their children. We dobelieve finances should not wantbe anya studenthindrance to beenrolling unableat to enrol with HCOS due to finances.HCOS. Let’s work together to continue to make HCOS a viable option for all students.

We are looking for partners to help us continue to offer Christian Education through distributed learning to students all over the province of British Columbia. All donations are eligible for a tax receipt and will go to provide bursaries for families who cannot afford tuition. 

Donate to Forward Together

Corporate Sponsorship

Contact Chantelle Olsson-Chang, HCOS Advancement & Donor Relations, to discuss corporate sponsorship options at forward.together@onlineschool.ca

Bursary Application