How much in registration fees are you paying for your kids

We have always paid school fees each year. I have two in high school and next week I get to pay $195 per kid. It includes all extracurricular activities, including sports. Does not include driver's education ($275) or yearbooks ($55 each).

And to add insult to injury, my senior has to take a math class at the community college since the school doesn't offer it--another $395. Luckily she is getting the book from a friend for free.

My kids' school has no registration fee per se. We pay a $50 tech fee for their iPads. They have $20 class dues, which go toward prom and other class activities. Sports fees are only $80 for varsity, $50 for JV and jr. high. I think band/drama pay $25.

At the school I teach at, the registration fee is $10. Tech fees are $40 and sports cost $300. I think there is a family cap of $1200 or something like that.   I'm not sure what band/drama pay.

They pay a small fee for extracurricular activities (less than $50). I assume that there's a sports fee, but neither of my kids ever played sports.

No kind of book fees or school registration or bus fees.

2 kids: one in middle school, one a K-5. Both public school, but magnet programs and not our down-the-street school.

Middle school kid: $350 for bussing, $100 for general school fees and yearbook, $100?? band plus instrument rental TBD

Elementary kid: $350 bussing, $80 general fees and yearbook, $350 lunchroom supervision fee (so jacked up -- obviously bused kids can't come home to eat!!!)

Fees are WAY out of control.

Lived in three states and never heard of fees for free education.

Where do yall lived?

I've never heard of registration fees for public school. Only for extracurricular activities.

I homeschool.

The public schools here do not have registration fees.

I had never heard of that before 2peas.

Registration Fee: $135 ($100 if paid before August 8th)

MANDATORY iPad: Supply your own or rent one from the school for $189/year
Curriculum Fee for the iPad: $85 (this replace the $125 text book rental fee the sophomore, juniors and seniors will continue to pay)

Once we added in a $45 yearbook, approved lock for his locker and a PE uniform, we just cut a check to the school district for $498.

When we lived in the city, we didn't use the public schools- but I don't think they had a registration fee. Our private school had a $100 fee, but it was applied to your tuition balance.

In the burbs now, and all schools here have fees. They get bigger from level to level. I think I was paying $120-ish for grade school. $165-ish for middle school. High school fees for freshman started with a base of $245. That includes gym suit, locker padlock, science goggles and registration. We had the option to add on PTA dues, yearbook and a starter lunch balance. By the time I got finished, I wrote a check for around $320. If I remember correctly, I wrote registration checks that averaged between $300 and $350 when DS was in HS.

This is another one of those conversations we have every year (and I find it interesting every year)- but let's get some things out of the way right away...
yes, it's legal
yes, public education is still considered free
good school districts can charge registration fees (as in 'it's not an indicator of the quality of the district')
even areas that pay high taxes can have fees
there are provisions for families that cannot afford the fees
if you refuse to pay the fee, but haven't qualified for a waiver, you don't get your schedule or bus assignment (same thing for people who don't cough up the completed health forms)

*I just looked it up- and in Illinois, there's no regulation for how much you pay in fees from district to district, nor is there regulation for the things it covers. The funds do not cover 'education' which is free (funny, if you saw my property tax bills) - but cover consumables, software upgrades, books, etc. They do not cover school supplies like pens and pencils and folders; we get a new list for those each year. Except, apparently HS. I guess the teachers will tell them what they need on the first day.

I think my MS and Elementary kids will have a $20 planner fee. Plus yearbook costs for MS and HS kids. But that is optional and can be paid any time until mid Jan. Any extra curricular like sports/band/etc will have their own fee. Our HS even covers the lion share of test costs. AP tests only cost us $20. And things like student handbooks are all online. We just have to sign a paper verifying we have viewed it.

The only fees we have are for pe clothes, if you use district transportation to and from school, and the occassional field trip fee to help off set the cost the PTA/district can't cover (at most $5).

Eta: southern Cali here. Also there are fees for those who do AP classes in high school and you pay for your student id in high school as well as for sports

There are no registration fees in our school district.

Zero.

I do owe $8 in ID fees for my DS for last year. They have to wear their student ID at all times. If they come to school without one, they are sent to have a new one made and we have to pay for it. That's it, though.