Your article concerning the growing trend among public schools of imposing excessive fees shed light on this troubling practice (“Fees stacking up at Illinois schools,” News, Page 1). But the article failed to elaborate onthe availability of fee waivers for low-income students.
Illinois law requires all school districts to adopt a written policy concerning the district’s eligibility criteria; at a minimum, those students whose income is low enough to qualify for the free school lunch program are entitled to a fee waiver.
School districts are required to notify parents of the availability of a fee waiver at the time the child is first enrolled. Unfortunately many districts fail to make the availability of a fee waiver widely known, and parents struggle unnecessarily to pay.
