Handbook

1. Starting at Tevie
2. Society Fees
3. Speech and Language Fees
4. Bingos
5. Casinos
6. Donations
7. Bursary
8. Sponsorship
9. Small Fundraisers
10. Employment Coverage
11. Delinquent Accounts
12. Society Board
13. Society Board Budget
14. Society Board Finances
15. Questions?
16. General Information

Once a child has qualified to attend the Tevie Miller Heritage School Program, the parent(s) will be introduced to the Society Office Administrator and will sign a Financial Commitment Form. The Society membership fees, the speech and language (Program of Choice) fees, and fundraising opportunities will be discussed at that time.

What does the $3,500.00 cover:

The Society fee of $400.00 is a membership fee that provides for The Tevie Miller Heritage School Society administration. This fee is mandatory for all families and cannot be fundraised. It goes directly to the Society for operational expenses. If a parent(s) has more than 1 child in the School Program, the Society fee is only paid once. Options for paying the Society membership fees are:

1. Pay the Society fee of $400.00 on June 15, 2023, with a signed financial commitment form.
2. Pay $200.00 on June 15, 2023, with a signed financial commitment form and the balance of $200.00 on or before January 15, 2024.

The $3,100.00 can be fundraised and is for the enhanced speech and language services that are integrated into the classroom curriculum instruction. These speech and language services provided in the School program fall under the mandate of health services and cannot be provided through education mandate funding. The Society contracts the services of Edmonton Public Schools to facilitate the provision of enhanced speech and language services.

The parent(s) is responsible for a fee of $3,100.00 per child for the 2023-24 school year. If the fee is not paid at the beginning of the year, the parent is requested to provide the Society with 10 post-dated cheques in the amount of $310.00 for each month. Post-dated cheques will be returned for monthly accounts that are covered by fundraised.

Fundraised dollars in excess of the $3,100.00 cannot be reimbursed or applied to the next school year.

The following is a list of possible options to assist a family with the yearly fee:

1. Families can sign up for bingos.
2. Every 18-24 months, the Society participates in a casino.
3. Donations to your account.
4. Apply for the bursary in January.
5. Sponsorship by Community or Business organizations.
6. Small fundraisers such as: NOEL, chocolates, soups

All families are given the opportunity to work bingos. Every family who is willing to participate in working bingos may sign up for as many as bingos as they want.

The Society has a good relationship with Caesar's Bingo at West Edmonton Mall and receives between 25-30 bingos per year. Our fundraising depends on your commitment to these bingos.

The bingo credit is allocated as follows:

• Afternoon (11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) and evening bingos (4:45 p.m.-9:30 p.m.) will be $100.00 per bingo.

The Society Office Administrator contacts each parent about 2 to 3 days prior to their scheduled bingo. It is the parents' responsibility to contact the Office Administrator ASAP if he/she is unable to make the bingo; 24 hours notice is requested to ensure enough workers are present at the bingo; however, in case of an emergency, contact the Office Administrator and/or leave a message on her voice mail.

Our last scheduled casino was January 11-12, 2023.

We are a registered non-profit organization. Anyone wishing to donate to The Tevie Miller Heritage School Society can be issued a donation tax receipt.

Each year the Society allocates money from the Bursary to families in need. The Edmonton Community Foundation, casino, and donations provide money for the bursary fund. Bursary applications are available in February. If a parent would like to apply, an application form needs to be completed and given to the Society Office Administrator. The Bursary Committee meets in April to review the applications and decides how much each applicant should receive. Then every parent who applied to the Bursary is sent a letter with the amount of bursary given.

Parent(s) can apply to other organizations to sponsor their child:

1. Legions
2. Place of employment
3. Social Services
4. United Way contributions
5. Jordan's Principle
6. Service clubs, e.g., Elks, Rotary

Throughout the year, the parent can do small fundraisers. The Society has coordinated:

1. Chocolates; for every case of chocolates sold, you receive $40.
2. NOEL; 40% profit to families.
3. Sherwood Park Soups; $4.00 per soup sold.

Parents who have medical insurance coverage through their employer are advised to investigate whether or not their plan covers speech and language services and how much this coverage might be. With the parents' written consent, the Society can provide the necessary documentation to the insurer. The School Program tracks the speech and language services and the Society will provide a statement documenting the amounts that the parents have paid directly (fundraised or sponsored dollars cannot be claimed).

Throughout the year the Office Administrator keeps in contact with parents regarding the status of their account. Parents are expected to pay off their accounts on or before June 1, 2024. However, if a parent is working summer bingos to pay off the balance owing on the account, then the account must be paid in full by the end of August 31, 2024.

The Society Board administrates the affairs of the Society through the Office Administrator. The Board is comprised of community members and no more than 4 parents. This is a two-year voluntary position with board members having knowledge, skills, and community profile in one of the areas of board governance and development, volunteerism, accounting, fundraising and business. The Board meetings are usually on the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the School boardroom. If a parent wishes to present to the Board, they may call the Office Administrator and request to be 1st on the agenda at a meeting. The School Principal (Sandra Mason), Assistant Principal (Danielle Couillard), and Melanie Brady also attend board meetings.

Our current Board Members are: Kayla Clement, Doug Courts, Jonathan Foote, Shirley Haynes, Daniel Pedersen, Shayne Stoik, Jennell Tavernini, Brett Zawadiuk.

The largest expense incurred by the Society is for the provision of speech and language services contracted with the Edmonton Public School Board. In 2022-23, the total income for the Society was $386,537. Portions of this income were received from the Program of Choice fees of $337,657 and Society fees of $48,880. The Society board paid $428,282 for speech language services to the Edmonton Public School Board. The remainder of the budget is spent on Society administration. This administration is necessary for the maintenance of the School Program.

The Tevie Miller Heritage School Society is audited annually by an outside and reputable accounting firm, King & Company. The audited financial statements are presented at the Annual General Meeting in November. Society members are welcome to come to the Society office during regular business hours and review a copy of the financial statements.

One of the most frequent questions we receive is where someone should be going with a question -- to the School or to the Society?

Questions that usually go to the School (436-0465):

• Student's education program or outcomes
• Teachers, speech and language pathologists, or school administration
• School events
• Educational policy

Questions that usually go to the Society (414-6560):

• Program of Choice fees
• Society fees
• Speech and language reimbursement
• Fundraising