~*~*~
School registration. Oh sure, it seems like Cam just finished 8th grade 5 weeks ago (because he did) but today I get to register him for high school ... kind of ...
This year, with Cam attending the Therapeutic Day School, I get to register him for high school twice - today at his "home" school (traditional high school) and next Wednesday at the Therapeutic day school. Could we make this any more cumbersome??
I also get to fill out the SAME registration forms I have filled out for the past 4 years:
- the STUDENT DATA FORM (because Cam's date of birth and place of birth may have changed since last year)
- the RACE AND ETHNICITY IDENTIFICATION FORM (because Cam may have suddenly developed almond shaped eyes and an Asian heritage)
- the HEALTH AND EMERGENCY INFORMATION form (the one form that actually makes sense to update annually)
- the HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY form (because over the summer I may have decided Cam should begin speaking Polish)
- the RESIDENCY AFFIDAVIT (because it makes far more sense to have every student fill this out every year than it does to have only students who have made a change in their residency fill it out)
... and then there are the fees ...
Cam will not be attending classes at his "home" high school, yet I will still be required to pay all of the fees as if he were. Now, before anyone chimes in with "But the district is paying for the Therapeutic Day School" you would be right. I am just hoping there aren't any additional fees I have to come up with there.
Let's take a look at the PUBLIC High School fees first. Are you ready??
HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL REGISTRATION FEE - $135.00
P.E. SHIRTS - $5.00
P.E. SHORTS - $10.00
P.E. LOCKS - $6.00
ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION PER SPORT (Student cap of 2 High School Sports per school year and or a family cap of 4 High School Sports per school year - No payment plan) - $150.00
DRIVER'S EDUCATION (graduation requirement in IL) - $300.00
HIGH SCHOOL OPTIONAL FEES
PARKING PERMIT - $125.00
PARKING PERMIT (1/2 YEAR) - $70.00
ATHLETIC EVENT PASS - $35.00
And no, the high school fees are not the highest fees a parent might pay.
Want your child to attend a full-day kindergarten program instead of the traditional half day? You'll pay $200/month in addition to the $100 annual registration fee.
Want to go all out and start your student in the 4-year old pre-kindergarten program with before and after school enrichment (10 hour/day program)? That will cost you $900/month in addition to the $90 annual registration fee.
Ummmm ... yeah ...
Those of you with kids in the public school system, are these fees in line with what you are paying?
School registration. Oh sure, it seems like Cam just finished 8th grade 5 weeks ago (because he did) but today I get to register him for high school ... kind of ...This year, with Cam attending the Therapeutic Day School, I get to register him for high school twice - today at his "home" school (traditional high school) and next Wednesday at the Therapeutic day school. Could we make this any more cumbersome??
I also get to fill out the SAME registration forms I have filled out for the past 4 years:
- the STUDENT DATA FORM (because Cam's date of birth and place of birth may have changed since last year)
- the RACE AND ETHNICITY IDENTIFICATION FORM (because Cam may have suddenly developed almond shaped eyes and an Asian heritage)
- the HEALTH AND EMERGENCY INFORMATION form (the one form that actually makes sense to update annually)
- the HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY form (because over the summer I may have decided Cam should begin speaking Polish)
- the RESIDENCY AFFIDAVIT (because it makes far more sense to have every student fill this out every year than it does to have only students who have made a change in their residency fill it out)
... and then there are the fees ...
Cam will not be attending classes at his "home" high school, yet I will still be required to pay all of the fees as if he were. Now, before anyone chimes in with "But the district is paying for the Therapeutic Day School" you would be right. I am just hoping there aren't any additional fees I have to come up with there.
Let's take a look at the PUBLIC High School fees first. Are you ready??
HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL REGISTRATION FEE - $135.00
P.E. SHIRTS - $5.00
P.E. SHORTS - $10.00
P.E. LOCKS - $6.00
ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION PER SPORT (Student cap of 2 High School Sports per school year and or a family cap of 4 High School Sports per school year - No payment plan) - $150.00
DRIVER'S EDUCATION (graduation requirement in IL) - $300.00
HIGH SCHOOL OPTIONAL FEES
PARKING PERMIT - $125.00
PARKING PERMIT (1/2 YEAR) - $70.00
ATHLETIC EVENT PASS - $35.00
And no, the high school fees are not the highest fees a parent might pay.
Want your child to attend a full-day kindergarten program instead of the traditional half day? You'll pay $200/month in addition to the $100 annual registration fee.
Want to go all out and start your student in the 4-year old pre-kindergarten program with before and after school enrichment (10 hour/day program)? That will cost you $900/month in addition to the $90 annual registration fee.
Ummmm ... yeah ...
Those of you with kids in the public school system, are these fees in line with what you are paying?
~*~*~
28 comments:
You have to pay to register your child to go to school?
Well, I have already enrolled my son in high-school. We are in Fuquay NC and we have the same fees for th ePE clothes, and usually a $10 agenda fee the Parking is around $170. But all those registration fees and Drivers Ed cost (ours is free)...WTF! We do not have any of those thank god. What happens if you cannot pay, is your child not allowed in school? Plz elaborate.
Curvy Jones, indeed we do! This would be Illinois' definition of free public school!
Raquel's World, there are reduced fees for families receiving free/reduced price lunches, and a payment plan for all others - with exception of the sports fees. If Cam plays football I've got to come up with $150 by August 16th. It's not gonna happen ...
I went to private high school that cost more than $20K a year and that was almost 20 years ago. I don't have much experience with public school, but the fees seem reasonable. If the driver's ed fee includes behind the wheel training, then it is a bargain. Private driving lessons are expensive.
I guess that driver's ed fee is used to supplement the assistant coaches salaries.
Karen, I know the private school Cam will be attending temporarily costs about double what your private high school cost and yes, the $300 driver's ed fee DOES include 6 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction.
Jay, especially since our assistant coaches have had to go to a flat-rate payment schedule (rather than double time).
I live in a rural area (and when I say rural I mean RURAL, not suburban... there isn't even a walmart) and our public schools, while shitty compared to the suburban/city schools, are much cheaper. My son attends a private elementary school now, but I checked the high school fees to give you some comparison: $50 registration/book fee, $50 driver's ed, $1.75 lunch, parking fee is $10, and sports are free except you have to pay to attend the out of town training camps. The season pass for athletics is the only place ours is higher at $40. You bring PE clothes from home, no uniforms.
We have not received enrollment forms for this school year yet, but I pulled what I paid last year.
I will not be complaining this year. IL pays a lot. What I paid out would fall in your Optional fees.
HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL REGISTRATION FEE - $0.00
P.E. SHIRTS - From Home
P.E. SHORTS - From Home
P.E. LOCKS - From Home
ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION PER SPORT - $0.00
HIGH SCHOOL OPTIONAL FEES:
PARKING PERMIT - Have to be Senior & only every few slots available.
ATHLETIC EVENT PASS - $5.00
ACTIVITY PASS (AFTER SCHOOL BUS) - $45
DRIVER'S EDUCATION - $300.00 (This is done in summer not school time and optional-also limited spaces)
BOOSTER CLUB - S $5 F $8
STUDENT ID $5
SCHOOL LUNCH - $1.85 PER DAY
PHOTOS - Depends on package
YEARBOOK - $39
Either it's been too long or things have changed but I don't remember fees except for parking.
Mrs. D, This *is* rural! Not only do we not have a WalMart, we don't even have a real grocery store in town (drive 9 miles on county roads to get to the next town). Even our lunch is more expensive - $2.50! And the kids are REQUIRED to wear a PE uniform and use the schools locks for their gym locker.
Baseball Mom, I am amazed you don't pay a varsity sports fee/sport. And here I was thinking IL might be "normal"
Mike, I grew up in Seattle, and other than paying for lunch, year books, etc. we NEVER paid any other fee. It's looking like much of this is related to either my school district or Illinois itself.
Good thing all mine are grown up and not in the same state I live in. All I remember paying for in high school in Indiana was for book rentals, drivers ed and lunch. I don't think the bill came to ever came to more than $175 when I was taking a full class schedule.
Why do I not remember paying any of those fees?
ut I know there are all sorts of fees down here. The one that makes me cazy is the Booster Club (not mandatory), but then they charge again for all sorts of things...
When my daughter was in public high school, I had to pay for PE uniforms, locks, event pass, year book, and a fee for something to do with JROTC.
I home school my boys, so I pay for whatever activities I feel like taking them to. If they are enrolled in a home charter school, then the charter school pays for whatever activities I put them in. But there are no "fees" to enroll or to pay upfront for anything.
peace...
I should check with Veronica, but I don't think we pay any fees for DB, we're in suburban Boston.
Wait, is this a recent development (within the past 10 years)? I don't remember my parents paying for anything besides sports and field trips. And I think they would've only complained about how much I was costing them. We always registered while we were still in school, in the spring.
Shiny Rod, four more years ... I only have 4 more years. I'm just grateful I'm not starting a family now!
Vinny "Bond" Marini, probably because - like me - these weren't fees that were ever charged!
theybelongtous, with the troubles I have educating Cam, I seriously considered home schooling (IL laws are fairly lax), but I just don't think I have the temperament to make that work.
Hubman, I'd be curious as the cost of living in Boston is similar to what it is here.
As far as I know, there are NO fees at our public high schools - aside from field trips and yearbooks. My parents paid for my cap and gown at graduation. I'll have to ask my friends with high school aged kids if there are other fees these days. That seems outrageous for public school. Our public schools aren't even allowed to require kids to bring supplies, in case some kids can't afford a pack of pencils, etc.
I don't know what the fees in public schools are around here, because Ryno attends a private school and thus far I haven't seen a very good A and B grade per dollar return on his part. ; ) Cheers Dana!!
This was a few years ago, but I don't remember fees being anywhere near that high when I was in HS.
There wasn't a registration fee, P.E. clothing was bring-from-home (and so was the lock...or you could "rent" one for the year--deposit returned when the lock was returned). Activities/sports/clubs were $30-60 dollars, depending on the activity (i.e. sports with more equipment/travel were more expensive, clubs like speech/debate were less so).
Driver's ed was free but opt-in (with behind-the-wheel training included...crusty old algebra teacher-instructor included). Parking was free. (But this was so rural, well, who cared if you parked in the designated parking field? We were able to--with ease--convince visiting schools that we were allowed to drive our tractors to school) :)
Of course, yearbooks/photos/etc. all had a cost, but they were optional.
I don't recall the cost of lunches, my mother always made us pack our own.
In Ohio we pay approximately:
No registration fees
Yearbook and activate pass were $125
Parking $25
Planner $6
Some classes have lab or book fees
Athletics $150/sport
We also have incredible house taxes to keep our school's excellent rating. They seem to go up approximate every 3 years.
We pay for the after school care, but that is it. Nothing else.
I think paying extra for full day K and for pre K is perfect acceptable. Schools are not day care centers. However, I am continually amazed at all the fees that we have to endure for required programs. I thought public school is supposed to be free.
That said, PE uniforms don't have to be purcahsed every year and a child does not have to park on campus. Parking fees are not a necessity. I would also argue that sports are not mandatory so I have no problem with that fee either. I think it's fine for parents of athletes to bear the burden for something I consider to be non academic. The one fee I don't agree with is the registration fee. What is with that? Are you paying the school to do its job?
Can't help but to keep commenting on this...Especially the registration fee. Dana you said there is assistance for that and I am assuming it is income based. Say that perhaps you do not meet the income requirements for the assistance but simply cannot come up with the money for the registration. What happens then? Do they not allow your child to come to school?
Evil Twin's Wife, I think most of the country operates this way. I am curious as to whether this is a district issue for us or a state-wide issue.
Matt-Man, he'll get there! Pretty soon you'll be wondering who this child is that is THRILLED to be bringing home his report card!
Ms. Inconspicuous, good to see you! I'm OK with the extra-curricular fees as the district has to pay coaches/teachers for the extra time, but the basic registration fee seems a bit high!
better late than never, so with the exception of the registration fee, yours are similar.
Another Suburban Mom, paying for after school care seems reasonable!
dlk24, If you have my son, PE uniforms are purchased every year :) I actually am fine with paying extra-curricular fees, but why are they limited to sports? Why isn't there a fee (based on program costs) for the photography club, the chess club or the debate team? I don't think sports participants should have to carry the financial burden for all extra-curriculars.
Raquel's World, from the district website:
Payment by cash or check
Families applying for the 2010-2011 Free and Reduced Lunch Program do not pay the fees at this time. *NOTE* I applied for free/reduced price lunch at the time of registration - knowing I will not qualify (max income to qualify for reduced price lunches is $26,988 annually for single parent w/one child - so that I could delay payment of registration fees
After families have been notified in writing that they qualify for the 2010-2011 school year Free and Reduced Lunch Program, the fees listed below will be waived. Families who do not qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch Program are responsible for payment of fees by August 16, 2010.
Fees waived by qualification are as follows for the 2010/2011 school year
* If you qualify for FREE meals the following fees are waived: Registration Fee, Drivers Ed, Athletic Participation, P.E. Locks and P.E. Uniforms.
* If you qualify for REDUCED meals the following fees are waived: Registration Fee, Drivers Ed, and Athletic Participation
*Families qualifying for Reduced Lunch are responsible to pay for P.E. Locks and P.E. Uniforms.
All families are responsible to pay for Activity Passes, Parking Permits and Yearbooks.
District payment plan for registration fee only (all other fees are due in full at time of registration) is a $35 down payment at time of registration and $25/month beginning September 1.
Delinquent accounts will be turned over to collections
So, I don't know what happens if you can't come up with $35 at registration. I will opt in to the payment plan when my free/reduced price lunch application is denied (which it will be) but I did buy some time to come up with the $35 down payment.
Wow- At least that makes me feel a bit better for the really poor. I know that doesn't help for those maybe not "poor" but struggling.
Post a Comment