Education Services Agreements

The Alberta Distance Learning Centre (ADLC) is now closed.

Pembina Hills School Division (PHSD) will enter into Education Services Agreements with other Alberta school jurisdictions, Alberta Accredited International Schools (AAIS), Private/Charter, Francophone or out-of-province schools. We can provide education at a distance for individual students whose primary registration is with a school authority other than PHSD.

Education Services Agreements are required as per the Funding Manual For School Authorities to provide services to students who are not included in the Pembina Hills enrolment. The agreements do not describe a process of sharing course content.

Education Services Agreements are a win-win-win solution.

  • Students can get access to courses when they need them
  • Schools and school authorities can solve issues related to gaps in programming while retaining authority and responsibility for your students
  • We can apply decades of expertise and an existing infrastructure to continue to support Alberta students

On this page:
Fill Gaps in Programming
Retain Primary Registrations in your School Authority
What does it cost?
How will this affect your funding?
Why does VVS need to charge a fee?
Next Steps

Fill Gaps in Programming

Schools and students continue to require alternate delivery options for courses that don’t fit in their timetable or for various reasons can’t be offered in their school at the time required.

With its history of operating Alberta Distance Learning Centre (ADLC) and Vista Virtual School (VVS), Pembina Hills School Division has extensive experience and an infrastructure to support distance education partnerships.

Education Services Agreements support schools in your jurisdiction to fill gaps in individual student timetables or to provide instruction to groups of students for whom the school does not have a teacher (or compatible section in the school’s programming).

Retain Primary Registrations in your School Authority

You retain the primary registration of the student. Students involved in an Education Services Agreements will not impact the Weighted Moving Average (WMA) in your school authority. You will continue to benefit from all the funding bands whose formulas are linked to your WMA.

You also retain the overall authority and responsibility for the students’ general educational needs.

They will continue to be your students; PHSD teachers will deliver instruction.

What does it cost?

Entering into an agreement is free. We encourage jurisdictions to initiate the process in advance so that registering students can be done quickly when needed. Students must have the opportunity to begin their courses without delay.

Fees will be charged based on the number of credits for which students from your jurisdiction have been registered.

The fee for affiliation schools is $130 per credit. The fee for Alberta Accredited International Schools is $200 per credit. As part of this fee, PHSD’s Vista Virtual School will:

  • Receive non-primary student registrations from your schools
  • Add your students to VVS class lists
  • Work with your schools’ teachers and administration to monitor and support student progress

VVS teachers will:

  • Deliver the content asynchronously
  • Connect with your students regularly to provide feedback and academic support
  • Maintain communication with school contacts
  • Assess and grade student work
  • Record final grades in PASI

How will this affect your funding?

Your school division will maintain your WMA by retaining the primary registration and continue to benefit from all the funding bands whose formulas are linked to WMA. The following example demonstrates how this works for you.

A typical school authority receives the following funds for each typical student enrolled as a primary registration.

  • Base instruction: $6,670
  • Services and Supports: $1,866
  • Operations and Maintenance: $218
  • Community Based: $776
  • System Administration: $375
  • Total: $9,913

Schools typically register their high school students for about 35 credits per school year. A funding per credit calculation comes to about $283 per credit.

In this example, you would receive $1,240 per student to deliver a five-credit course. Registering a student with VVS will cost you $650.

Why does VVS need to charge a fee?

Vista Virtual School is funded like any other school in the province and needs to hire staff to deliver education, maintain its infrastructure (including the courses), and administer the school. Additional students mean additional costs. The fees charged to your school authority for delivering instruction to your students is required to maintain viability of services to students.

Next Steps

There is no cost in establishing an Education Services Agreement; simply sign the paperwork. Thereafter, we will invoice your school division monthly based on the number of credits for registered students.

Click here to see a sample agreement that describes the relationship and responsibilities in more detail.
Education Services Agreement Template (Word)
Education Services Agreement Template (PDF)

If you have any questions, please contact:
Heather Nanninga
Secretary-Treasurer
heather.nanninga@pembinahills.ca
D 780.674.8504