A recent decision by the Toronto District School Board has sparked outrage with some of the students’ parents.

Water may not be free in some Toronto schools for long. Courtesy Defining Imagery/Flickr.

Fern Avenue Public School, an elementary school located south of Dundas Street West, plans to sell flavoured water for one dollar and water refills for 50 cents.

Parkdale Collegiate Institute, along with six other schools, will be doing the same thing by the end of the school year.

“I’m very upset that they’re charging the kids for water and that they’re bringing in this beverage that has sugar in it. Parents were never asked for their input and there’s very little information about the sugar content of the drink they’ll be selling," parent Lisa Dooher told TheDailyPlanet.com.

Dooher began a petition after discovering on March 4 through an E-blast that this was to be implemented at the school.

“A corporation called EnviroPURE is putting this in place and they’ll be receiving a profit, along with the school board. They shouldn’t be making this money from our kids and water isn’t a commodity,” she said.

Students at the school, which has no vending machines, typically bring reusable water bottles or use the drinking fountains, said Dooher.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with being environmentally friendly because the school board is still offering bottles. They’ve also tried to sell parents the idea by saying that this will mean better water for our kids, since it’s filtered. I asked if something was wrong with the water from the fountains, my son has been drinking it for seven years,” said Dooher.

University of Toronto nutrition expert Khursheed Jeejeebhoy told TheDailyPlanet.com that he thinks the issue at Fern Avenue Public School is mostly political, and the sugar content of the drinks shouldn’t cause too much worry.

“A balanced diet does involve having sugar. It’s a question of everything being in proportion. All the kids are different. They have different body types and different degrees of physical activity. It becomes a real problem if it’s excessive,” he said.

The parents’ concerns will be discussed at the school council meeting to be held at the Fern Avenue Public School auditorium on March 11, said Dooher.