On March 2, the provincial government announced Bill 1 which would reduce fees previously charged by school boards for instructional resources as well as those that qualify for transportation residing 2.4 km from their designated school.

While many details remain unknown as of now, Mary Martin President of the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) says they have been wanting this to happen for quite sometime.

"Alberta School Boards Association has been advocating for many years for predictable, sustainable, adequate funding and this is part of that equation."

The big conversation around Bill 1 will have to do with the sustainability of school boards if the province decides to reduce or eliminate fees all together; at this point it remains speculation.

Martin says conversation and consultation around what is meant by a 'basic' education in regards to core curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular will be key.

"Until we really know what that means it would be difficult to be certain where that funding is coming from and what that will look like. That is a question that has been much conversation for many, many years; we are charged with the responsibility of preparing Alberta's students to be competitive and to thrive not only within their own communities but within Alberta, Canada, and even beyond, and education is changing rapidly to accommodate that. So this is going to be a challenging conversation, I applaud the province for being willing tackle it.":

The ASBA represents 61 public, Catholic, and francophone school boards throughout the province and Martin shares the association looks forward to working with the government in finding ways to benefit Alberta families.

If Bill 1 is passed it will be in effect by this fall.