A member of the Naperville District 203 School Board is asking the district to consider funding all or a portion of school fees as a means to lessen the burden on families.
Each year the school board approves a list of fees that includes everything from charges based on grade levels to amounts that cover extracurricular clubs, activities and sports.
For example, the district collects a general fee of $68 for students in elementary school, $80 for students in junior high and $81 for students in high school. The amount has not changed in the last five years.
High schools have another list that includes costs for specific courses, such as workbooks for world language and music classes, laboratory supplies for science classes, food for cooking classes, and extended texts for English classes.
Board member Paul Leong suggested at a board meeting this week that because the district is running a surplus, the board could approve the funding of all or a portion of general school fees and possibly some of the high school course fees.
Leong said he’s received calls from new residents who were shocked their taxes don’t cover all education costs. He said he doesn’t see an issue with funding even a fraction to help taxpaying families.
“I think their burden is pretty heavy already, and to send another bill home several times a year or at the beginning of the year seems unnecessary to me,” he said.
Leong said if the district picks up the tab for students who are eligible for fee waivers based on federal lunch program guidelines, he doesn’t see a problem with more families receiving the benefit.
Other board members said they’d like district administrators to provide the fee structures of comparable school districts before deciding if District 203 costs are out of line.
The board is expected to vote Feb. 18 on the fees.
Board member Donna Wandke said her duty is to provide tax relief to all the people in the district, including those who don’t have kids in school. She said her priority would be to abate the district’s debt levy and school funding levy before considering anything else.
Both Kristine Gericke and Joseph Kozminski said fee waivers were not a high priority for them.
Board member Charles Cush said he’s concerned that if the district covers all or a portion of the fees next year, families will expect it to happen every year.
Superintendent Dan Bridges said high school course fees cover consumable materials that are passed directly on to the user so only those students who are accessing these courses are paying the cost.
“I would be less inclined to provide any recommendation on waving these fees because these are costs fees, actual costs fees,” Bridges said.
Some of the general fees proposed by the district are expected to increase next year.
Chief School Business Official Michael Frances said the district is proposing to raise the monthly cost of full-day preschool at the district’s Ann Reid Early Childhood Center from $520 to $560. Frances said the move would eliminate the need to collect a separate fee for daily lunch.
He said last year the district did something similar when fees were increased to include breakfast and snacks.
The district also is proposing to add a new $30 fee for English language arts for students in grades 6-8 that would cover the purchase of three novels per year.
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