The Examiner U-46 News FeedU-46 fee structure for 2019-20 school year set By Seth Hancock
The fees for the 2019-2020 school year in School District U-46 will remain largely the same but with some changes.
The proposal was presented to the Board of Education at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 4 with a vote expected on Feb. 25.
The main change in fees is the addition of a $25 repair insurance fee for district issued Chromebooks to middle and high school students as well as for fifth and sixth grade students at the elementary level and fourth grade Ignite program students.
U-46 has recently gone to one-to-one technology at the high school level and approved at the middle school level and “potentially” extending to fifth and sixth grade according to Jeff King, chief operations officer, who said that “will be encompassed in a proposal that the board will see within the next few weeks.”
King said the $25 fee was not included in this year’s fees for high school “because of the timing and how quickly we rolled that out. Last spring the fees were already approved by the board so we could not implement anything at that time.”
The insurance does not cover repairs or replacement of chromebooks if a student “intentionally destroys a device” according to King. If a device is stolen, King said a police report would have to be made and given to the district to waive the replacement fee.
High school instructional fees, including the insurance, are set at $265 with a reduction to $245 for early payment (before May 31) and an increase to $285 for late payment (after Aug. 31). There’s an additional $150 fee for the academies.
The late fee is $20 across all levels but on the document it reads that the $285 price is the late fee at the high school level. Board member Jeanette Ward suggested the district clarify that in the document because “that would be like insane if that were the actual late fee,” and King said he understood that’s how the document reads.
For driver’s education there is a $300 behind-the-wheel fee and $13 textbook fee, a parking permit is $100 and the athletic participation fee is $150 or $200 for football. Additional optional high school fees include a $40 activity fee and $45 basic yearbook fee with customization options priced at the schools.
Middle school fees are set at $187 with early payment at $167 and late payment at $207. The athletic participation fee is $80.
Elementary school fees are set at $116 ($96 early/$136 late) for first through fourth grade, $141 ($121 early/$161 late) for fifth and sixth grade and $291 ($271 early/$311 late) for the Ignite program.
The half-day kindergarten fee is $48 ($58 late) and full-day $96 ($116 late). There are no reductions for early payment.
The central school program fees are $140 for Moving On, $50 for SWEP and $105 for Center House.
Refunds will be given if a student is withdrawn before the first day of school with no refund if withdrawn after the school year starts. New students registered after Jan. 1 will be required to pay half the fee.
Regarding the chromebooks, board member Sue Kerr asked how many have been damaged, lost or stolen and King said “we’re around 30 to 40 devices that are gone or damaged beyond repair.” King said over 12,000 were issued to high school and U-46 CEO Tony Sanders said 14,000 were ordered.
Board member Phil Costello asked how much in revenue is raised through the fees to which King said “a little over $2 million,” but only “about 50 percent or less pay the fees.”
Asked by Kerr and Ward to elaborate on why only about half of families pay the fee, King said the district has to waive the fee for free and reduced price meal families under federal law.
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