I-13.3, r. 6.2 - Regulation respecting free instructional material and certain financial contributions that may be required

Updated to 12 December 2023

This document has official status.

chapter I-13.3, r. 6.2

Regulation respecting free instructional material and certain financial contributions that may be required

Education Act

(chapter I-13.3, s. 3, 4th par., s. 7, 3rd par. and s. 457.2.1; S.Q. 2019, c. 9, ss. 1, 2 and 13).

On 10 August 2020, the Superior Court ordered a stay of the application of the Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance (S.Q. 2020, c. 1) to English language school boards until a judgment is rendered on the merits of the application for judicical review challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Act.

The amounts prescribed in the Regulation have been indexed as of 1 July 2023 pursuant to the notice published in Part 1 (French) of the Gazette officielle du Québec of 30 June 2023, page 428. (s. 11.1)

DIVISION I GENERAL

M.O. 2019-06-07, Div. I.

1. This Regulation determines the services provided within the scope of special school projects and school activities to which the right to free school services provided for in section 3 of the Act does not apply.

It clarifies the scope of the right to free instructional material provided for in section 7 of the Act.

It also establishes standards for the financial contributions that may be required for the services and activities referred to in the first paragraph, for material to which the right of free use does not apply and for supervision at lunch time provided for in the third paragraph of section 292 of the Act.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 1.

2. For the purposes of this Regulation, “special school project” means a project approved by the governing board and carried out for one or more groups of students enrolled at the elementary or secondary level among the following:

(1)  sport-study programs recognized by the Minister;

(2)  arts-study programs recognized by the Minister;

(3)  programs recognized by Baccalauréat International;

(4)  Concentration or Profile type projects, that is, those intended to meet the student’s interests by activities or one or many local programs of studies and school interventions related to the field of activity specifically covered by the project.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 2.

DIVISION II EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

M.O. 2019-06-07, Div. II.

3. The services provided within the scope of a special school project to which the right to free access provided for in section 3 of the Act does not apply are the following:

(1)  certification by an outside body required for the carrying out of the project;

(2)  the issue to the student of a certificate from an outside body within the scope of the project;

(3)  the school coordination required to allow the carrying out of the project;

(4)  the participation of a coach or other specialist not acting as a teacher in a study program;

(5)  the renting of a sports facility or of premises required for the carrying out of a project.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 3.

4. The school activities to which the right to free access provided for in section 3 of the Act does not apply are the following:

(1)  the activities conducted outside the premises of the educational institution attended by the student, including transportation to the premises of the activity;

(2)  the activities conducted with the participation of a person who is not a member of the staff of the school service centre and similar to those referred to in paragraph 1.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 4.

DIVISION III MATERIAL

M.O. 2019-06-07, Div. III.

5. Within the framework of the activity programs and the teaching of programs of studies approved by the Minister and local programs of studies that are not included in a special school project, the right of free use applies in particular to the following material:

(1)  tools, machine tools, instruments, chemical products and other scientific and technological material;

(2)  balls, rackets, helmets and other physical education equipment;

(3)  paint, pastels, clay and other art supplies;

(4)  reeds for musical wind instruments, flutes and other musical instruments;

(5)  novels and albums, and reference material such as dictionaries, grammars, atlases, guides and encyclopedias, whatever the media;

(6)  photocopied texts, reproductions of copyrighted material such as partitions and any other reprographic material that replaces or supplements a school manual;

(7)  solid and geometric form kits, counters, base 10 kits, dice, card games and other manipulatives;

(8)  modelling clay, wood, plaster and other similar materials;

(9)  computers, laptops, tablets, technological applications, graphing calculators, earphones and other technological tools;

(10)  protective helmets, safety glasses, hairnets and other protective items;

(11)  sensory stimulation material intended in particular for handicapped students and students with social maladjustments or learning disabilities.

The material referred to in the first paragraph is maintained free of charge.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 5.

6. Despite section 5, the right of free use does not apply to specialized material specifically required for the carrying out of a special school project, or to the maintenance of the material.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 6.

7. The right of free use provided for in section 7 of the Act does not apply to the following material:

(1)  activity or exercice books or reprographic material replacing or supplementing an activity or exercise book, including those on a medium based on information technology;

(2)  notebooks, pads of paper, sleeves, binders and separators;

(3)  standard calculators and scientific calculators;

(4)  memory sticks;

(5)  rulers, protractors, squares, compasses and other geometry tools;

(6)  highliter pens, markers, pens, coloured pencils, pencil sharpeners, scissors and glue;

(7)  running shoes, dancewear and shoes, lab coats, aprons or shirts to protect clothing;

(8)  uniforms, boots and other clothing required for vocational training;

(9)  towels and blankets for rest periods;

(10)  locks.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 7.

DIVISION IV STANDARDS RELATING TO CONTRIBUTIONS THAT MAY BE REQUIRED

M.O. 2019-06-07, Div. IV.

8. The governing board must implement measures to facilitate access by each student to all services, activities or materials for which financial contribution is approved under section 75.0.1 of the Act.

The governing board must also inform the school service centre of all financial contributions approved under that section.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 8.

9. Every financial contribution required for a service referred to in section 3, for an activity referred to in section 4, for material to which the right of free use does not apply or for the supervision of students at lunch time must be the subject of a clear and detailed invoice. Where a voluntary contribution or a donation is requested, no amount related to it may be included in the total indicated on the invoice.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 9; M.O. 2022-002, s. 1.

10. No financial contribution may be required for a service, activity or material that is subject to financing provided for in the budget rules determined by the Minister, such as paper tissues and other items required to be supplied for health or hygiene reasons.

Such financing must be deducted from the amount of the financial contribution required where it covers part of the expenses incurred.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 10.

11. No supplier or specific brand may be imposed with reference to material for a student’s personal use, other than activity or exercise books.

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 11.

11.1. The financial contribution required for the supervision of a child at the preschool and elementary school level at lunch time must be determined by taking into account the number of days during which the child stays at school for lunch. That number is established with the parents, according to the conditions set by the school service centre.

In addition to the actual cost of the service, the financial contribution may not exceed the amount obtained by multiplying $3.05 by the total number of hours of the lunch period.

The amount provided for in the second paragraph is adjusted on 1 July of each year by a rate corresponding to the annual change in the overall average Québec consumer price index without alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and recreational cannabis for the 12-month period ending on 31 March of the preceding year. The result is rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05, or if it is equidistant from two such multiples, to the higher of the two. The Minister publishes the result of the adjustment in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

M.O. 2022-002, s. 2.

11.2. No financial contribution may be required for the supervision of a secondary school student at lunch time when the student eats lunch throughout the school year outside the premises of the educational institution the student attends, except those lunch periods where educational services are offered to the student, and the student’s parents so notify in writing the school service centre.

M.O. 2022-002, s. 2.

DIVISION V FINAL

M.O. 2019-06-07, Div. V.

12. (Omitted).

M.O. 2019-06-07, s. 12.

TRANSITIONAL

2022

(M.O. 2022-002) SECTION 3. The third paragraph of section 11.1 of the Regulation respecting free instructional material and certain financial contributions that may be required, made by section 2 of this Regulation, is applicable from the school year 2023-2024.

REFERENCES

M.O. 2019-06-07, 2019 G.O. 2, 839A

S.Q. 2020, c. 1, s. 312

M.O. 2022-002, 2022 G.O. 2, 1995