The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,983
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Jul 26, 2022 21:02:57 GMT
If you have kids still in school or recently in school, besides school supplies (although I think some schools have those covered too), what do you have to pay for and which state do you live in?
I just saw a TikTok (again), where the person lives in Indiana and they have to pay “book fees” of up to $300 per kid and they have to do it to register their student.
I’m in Minnesota, and we don’t have anything like that (that I know of).
The district my kids are in have a $60 fee for insurance on their chrome books, but families can opt out and live dangerously (just have to pay for damages if they occur). The district I work in has a similar fee. Families can opt out but can’t take the computers home (I think this is the policy). Some kids check them out each day.
Other than that, there are fees for extracurricular activities that vary. The district my kids go to, I think have like a straight $30 fee for free and reduced families and like $60-$140 for everyone else. I think it’s similar for my district. Obviously if there is a booster, there may be additional fees but the district isn’t charging those. Also, there are waivers for some situations as well.
Basically, nothing is mandatory. No registration fees and any other fees are optional. School supplies are pretty optional too and their are usually free supplies for those who need it (donated).
What’s it like where you live?
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dawnnikol
Prolific Pea
'A life without books is a life not lived.' Jay Kristoff
Posts: 8,428
Sept 21, 2015 18:39:25 GMT
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Post by dawnnikol on Jul 26, 2022 21:12:30 GMT
We are in Kansas and I just paid $100 per child to register them. This fee is for “instructional materials”. If we want bus transportation or lunches, those are separate fees. If there’s a field trip (usually one per year per grade) the PTO usually covers it, minus adults. This is for elementary school.
Each student is assigned a tablet in our district since CV, but we don’t pay for any insurance on them.
ETA: We do have to purchase our own supplies each year that the teacher then (mostly) combines into classroom use. Then when they need something restocked throughout the year, the teacher will send an e-mail to parents for volunteers to replenish.
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Post by tc on Jul 26, 2022 21:12:38 GMT
Off the top of my head in NE: Lunch and Breakfast. If you don't qualify for free or reduced food. Everyone got free lunch the last two years. However, they ended that program the last day of school this past May. We still had to pay for milk. My kid takes his lunch to school anyway because he becomes paralyzed by making a choice so we just took that out of the equation for the day.
$15 fee for the "insurance" on his ipad (yearly). Each kid after 2nd grade gets issued an ipad and they use that same machine throughout the next several years.
Orchestra/band rental instruments if you choose to go that direction.
Field trips aren't required and in our previous school they did send home a note saying no one would be excluded for not paying for them and that they'd find the money from the parent organization if you chose not to fund for your child/children.
A lot of optional things come to mind. Shirts for field day. School spirit shirts. Staff appreciation gifts. Scholastic book orders.
We don't have to pay for books or any kind of a supply fee.
They do send a list of requested supplies, but, again, I think they find a way to provide for the kids who possibily don't show up with anything. In my son's previous 4 classrooms, supplies were all community property for the majority of the items and no one would notice if Johnny didn't have an eraser, glue, or pencils on the first day because they all just grabbed from huge bins.
I feel like I'm missing a couple of things. I always felt like I was sending a check to school about every three weeks for something.
We're at a new school this year (same district) so it will be interesting to compare and see the differences.
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iluvpink
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,370
Location: Michigan
Jul 13, 2014 12:40:31 GMT
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Post by iluvpink on Jul 26, 2022 21:13:58 GMT
Well my dd graduated in 2019. But the only things we paid for were lunches, school pictures, field trips and extra curriculars (which were modest IMO limited experience). Oh and school supplies, but her school always kept the requests reasonable. No book, registration fees etc.
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Post by busy on Jul 26, 2022 21:16:02 GMT
$20 for ASB $150 for band, cheerleading, color guard or dance team $200 for athletic participation fee $30/yr for parking permit AP & IB exam fees
No fees for registration, materials, books, field trips, etc.
Everyone is issued a Chromebook. There's no fee involved.
"It is the philosophy of Hillsboro School District that no student be denied the opportunity to participate in any phase of the curriculum because of financial hardship. The district will provide necessary materials free of charge to any student whose parents indicate that the costs entailed would represent a financial hardship to the family."
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SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,408
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on Jul 26, 2022 21:16:53 GMT
We don’t have a registration fee in Texas. We do pay a Chromebook fee in grades 3-12. The fee is like insurance for the Chromebooks so all repairs will be covered. My youngest is taking art as a freshman. There will be a $30 supply fee for that. My oldest plays football but they supply everything but football cleats for that. I did have to pay $85 for the parking space for oldest DS.
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,675
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on Jul 26, 2022 22:00:22 GMT
In CA it is illegal to charge for required public schooling. While there are optional things (after school programs), and things that are not optional that they ask for a "donation" if you can't pay you must be allowed to attend.
This includes field trips that happen during the school day and musical instruments. CA just approved free meals for all students moving forward. No Chromebook fees here.
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Post by littlemama on Jul 26, 2022 22:01:40 GMT
Pay to participate fees for sports. School supplies.
That's it. It is public school, everything school related should be covered.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,570
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
Member is Online
Mar 18, 2015 4:10:31 GMT
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Post by milocat on Jul 26, 2022 22:13:16 GMT
My kids are just out of school now but the school fees were around $40 - 75 over the years. Paid for school supplies. When they took shop in high school they had to pay for the supplies for their project, not every little screw but the wood.
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Post by ~summer~ on Jul 26, 2022 22:13:54 GMT
All fees were optional but we paid like $75 technology fee, $35 parents club, $300 boosters, $350 football, $75 Latin club, etc. plus most importantly most people gave around $800 per kid per year to the “education fund” which kept class size small, paid teacher aids, daily band classes etc. We were the top rated school district in CA. Eta - I just checked and the current “ask” is $1300 per child on top of all the other fees.
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Post by maryland on Jul 26, 2022 22:24:24 GMT
We have to pay to participate on sports teams, band, clubs. It's $50 per thing. We pay $35 for insurance for computer thing they got. not sure what it is called. We don't have to spend much for other stuff or school supplies.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 6, 2024 19:16:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2022 22:27:19 GMT
Senior Registration Fees for this year (required before the start of school) were $190 and class dues were $12.50. We will be buying some school supplies (we have a bunch of things so not much will be needed) and paying $60 for a parking pass. Most of the rest of what she is involved in will be covered by fundraising or the PTO. I'm sure, being a senior, she will have some additional asks like special trips, t shirts, etc....
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 26, 2022 22:32:44 GMT
Technology fee Sports fee Certain classes have fees.
I'd pay a book fee (not $300 that is insane) if the damn district would update their textbooks
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 26, 2022 22:33:49 GMT
Pay to participate fees for sports. School supplies. That's it. It is public school, everything school related should be covered. it should be, but public education is woefully underfunded
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,379
Location: PNW
Jul 20, 2014 21:57:23 GMT
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Post by breetheflea on Jul 26, 2022 22:37:13 GMT
Elementary: nothing except photos (if you want them)
Middle school: art supply fee if taking art and some other elective classes have fees, PE uniform (unless you buy your own, it has to be a specific color), sports fee if playing sports + ASB card fee (no idea what it's used for besides being a photo id), yearbook, school photos...
High school: yearbook, school photos, sports fee (if playing) ASB card (required to play sports) for some reason orchestra is considered a sport... there is also an orchestra something or other music association fee that you are required to join if your kid is in orchestra, some other electives probably have material fees, sometimes fieldtrips are covered by the school but last year they wouldn't pay for one so I forked over $20... some clubs probably have a fee.
I'm sure there are more... in late August/early September I get really tired of paying school fee after school fee... I think it ended up being around $400 between my 3 older kids (two hs and one ms)
ETA: I live in Washington State.
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garcia5050
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,770
Location: So. Calif.
Jun 25, 2014 23:22:29 GMT
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Post by garcia5050 on Jul 26, 2022 22:43:02 GMT
Officially, my kid could go to school for free. Everything else is optional. If she wants to drive to school (once she gets her license), parking is $60. She just took her Sr. portraits. The yearbook photo was free. Additional poses (like with cap and gown) are additional. When she was in an activity (cheer), she had to get an ASB card ($60). Plus everything for cheer totaled about $3,500 (SEVERAL uniforms, camp, mandatory fundraisers and competition fees). She quit a year ago (I'm actually sad about that - but she's in heaven). She could eat once a day for free. If she wants to eat during snack AND lunch, she'll have to pay for one of them. If she didn't have her own laptop, she would have paid an optional insurance fee (not mandatory). And, there are quite a few free activities at school - like freshmen sunrise, senior sunset, and after school grade-specific get-togethers, like freshmen fiesta, sophomore something? I think they have 2 events per grade during each school year. If she was to ruin a school-issued laptop or lose a book, she would get billed for it. If she owes anything at the end of her senior year, she would not be able to walk at graduation. If you have a bill, they send you the itemization at the end of each school year - so you aren't surprised right before graduation.
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Sarah*H
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,015
Jun 25, 2014 20:07:06 GMT
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Post by Sarah*H on Jul 26, 2022 23:04:34 GMT
We only had an activity fee ($45/year) that was required if they wanted to participate in any sports, clubs or extracurricular activities. If they wanted a parking pass, that was $60. And some of the activities and sports had booster fees but that wasn't through the school. School supplies were generally provided.
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maryannscraps
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,791
Aug 28, 2017 12:51:28 GMT
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Post by maryannscraps on Jul 26, 2022 23:08:22 GMT
Sports fees that vary according to the sport HS parking fee for seniors Pretty much it. Supplies are covered under the school budget.
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Post by cmhs on Jul 26, 2022 23:09:57 GMT
Our NJ public high school has no mandatory fees. Anything they charge for is optional such as lunch (pre universal free lunch these past two years), yearbook, senior parking spot, etc.
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Post by Linda on Jul 26, 2022 23:14:00 GMT
FL here - I've paid for field trips, photos, cap and gown...but I can't really think of anything else. 2 of mine did Academic Team and the only fees were when DD1 was on the teams that went to state and national (but I also know that there was fundraising and donations and no one didn't go due to money)
breakfast and lunch are free
PSAT is free
AP tests are free provided your teacher reccommends you - and if they don't and you pay and pass, the fee is reimbursed.
no registration fees, no book fees, no supply fees...there are suggested supply lists each year but if you don't supply them, someone else does (donations usually)
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Post by Merge on Jul 26, 2022 23:17:40 GMT
For my kids, we paid for a musical instrument and the expected private lessons outside of school, we were asked to buy their school supplies each year and did, paid a yearly chrome book fee, paid “senior fees” that covered prom, graduation festivities, and some other stuff, paid for orchestra trips and creative writing trips, paid for a parking pass for each of them in senior year and a ton for downtown parking junior year when they couldn’t get a pass to the school garage … that’s all I can think of at the moment.
Waivers were available for a lot of that for families who had financial need. I always contributed to the fund for classroom supplies for students who couldn’t afford their own, and to the orchestra for instruments, strings, etc. for kids who couldn’t afford them.
It was a lot. My kids attended a public magnet school for performing and visual arts and we were constantly looking at ways to make things more equitable to encourage applications and attendance from all over the district, but you can’t get past the fact that kids who couldn’t afford music lessons, dance classes, etc. in middle school and earlier were probably not going to make it. That doesn’t seem fair and I don’t know what the answer is.
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AmandaA
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,502
Aug 28, 2015 22:31:17 GMT
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Post by AmandaA on Jul 26, 2022 23:27:07 GMT
Wow we seem to pay for everything... textbook rental fees for all ages; and we provide our own supplies as well as some classroom consumables. Of course lunch if you plan to buy it from here on out and the usual “extras” like field trips, scholastic orders, photos, yearbooks, etc. We also contribute to the class fund in lieu of anyone doing gifts or appreciation items for the teacher all year (room moms do it with this fund). Once you get to middle school we are 1:1 device. We opted to purchase instead of rent, but this year all incoming students must rent the laptop. Music is required in 5-6 so there is an instrument unless you opt for choir (and then the *not* mandatory fundraising). There is also a mandatory performance uniform to provide as well. Later on gym uniforms are also required. Sports and extracurriculars all carry their own fees. Aside from the computer related expenses, these were all how it was when I was a student in the same district decades ago. I think it is pretty standard for the districts around us as well.
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Post by Bobomommy on Jul 26, 2022 23:29:08 GMT
Off the top of my head in NE: Lunch and Breakfast. If you don't qualify for free or reduced food. Everyone got free lunch the last two years. However, they ended that program the last day of school this past May. We still had to pay for milk. My kid takes his lunch to school anyway because he becomes paralyzed by making a choice so we just took that out of the equation for the day. $15 fee for the "insurance" on his ipad (yearly). Each kid after 2nd grade gets issued an ipad and they use that same machine throughout the next several years. Orchestra/band rental instruments if you choose to go that direction. Field trips aren't required and in our previous school they did send home a note saying no one would be excluded for not paying for them and that they'd find the money from the parent organization if you chose not to fund for your child/children. A lot of optional things come to mind. Shirts for field day. School spirit shirts. Staff appreciation gifts. Scholastic book orders. We don't have to pay for books or any kind of a supply fee. They do send a list of requested supplies, but, again, I think they find a way to provide for the kids who possibily don't show up with anything. In my son's previous 4 classrooms, supplies were all community property for the majority of the items and no one would notice if Johnny didn't have an eraser, glue, or pencils on the first day because they all just grabbed from huge bins. I feel like I'm missing a couple of things. I always felt like I was sending a check to school about every three weeks for something. We're at a new school this year (same district) so it will be interesting to compare and see the differences. Most schools do “find a way” to get supplies for those who don’t bring them. The way is called “the teacher”, who spends her own money from a ridiculously insufficient salary to buy supplies for those who don’t. It is noticed if Johnny didn’t bring supplies because when there are 25 children in the class and only 5 brought supplies some will not have a pair of scissors or a glue stick when they need them. No one will know WHICH children didn’t bring supplies, but it will be obvious many did not. I guess one child could cut and glue while the others wait their turn, but it would take hours to do one cut and paste activity. So, rather than have that situation the teacher goes to the store and buys what’s missing.
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Post by lucyg on Jul 26, 2022 23:36:08 GMT
I haven’t read the other posts, so I may be repeating information, but in California, schools/districts aren’t allowed to require families to pay for anything that isn’t optional, like trips. The supply lists are suggested, not required. My 13yo needed PE clothes (which weren’t very expensive, anyway) but he could wear his own shorts and t-shirts if we didn’t want to buy the school stuff. He is just required to have different clothes for PE than for the rest of the school day. That said: I supply whatever the teachers ask for. Especially tissues, since my kid has bad allergies and uses tons of them. ETA we do not pay any kind of fees, such as for books.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,891
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Jul 26, 2022 23:42:12 GMT
In our district (in Connecticut) you pay for extracurriculars and optional Chromebook insurance. We had an "activities fee" in elementary and middle school but I don't know if that still exists. It was like 15 bucks.
We do not pay for books.
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Post by Bobomommy on Jul 26, 2022 23:45:07 GMT
lucig same here. Supplies are requested, but if parents don’t send them they schools don’t supply them. How do parents expect children to learn with no paper, pencils, etc?
I totally understand if you can’t afford it, but if you can spend $6 a week on the snow cone truck, you can afford a pack of paper, some pencils, a box of crayons and a box of tissues.
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maryannscraps
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,791
Aug 28, 2017 12:51:28 GMT
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Post by maryannscraps on Jul 27, 2022 0:10:00 GMT
lucig same here. Supplies are requested, but if parents don’t send them they schools don’t supply them. How do parents expect children to learn with no paper, pencils, etc? I totally understand if you can’t afford it, but if you can spend $6 a week on the snow cone truck, you can afford a pack of paper, some pencils, a box of crayons and a box of tissues. I think the school district should be paying for supplies. You don’t ask admins to buy their own paper and printer ink. Why should students? If field trips are required for learning, then the district ought to be paying for it.
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misse336
Full Member
Posts: 234
Feb 24, 2020 2:57:43 GMT
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Post by misse336 on Jul 27, 2022 0:23:05 GMT
School my kids go to: Elementary and MS = technology insurance, yearbook/pics (if wanted), field trips some years (depends how expensive they were and how much PTO raised that year), spirit wear (if wanted), breakfast/lunch (if don't pack), list of supplies which varies by grade/teacher, gym uniform in MS (required to buy school uniform), fee to rent instrument if you don't buy one yourself HS = Same as above PLUS parking pass (if wanted), some classes have extra fee for supplies (like the engineering class my child took), some after school activities like dances/football games/etc have fees
School I teach at: Elementary = Not allowed to ask for a lot of supplies from parents but can ask for some, breakfast/lunch, yearbook/pics HS = Not sure on all of these as I teach in elementary, but I do know there is an activity fee per semester to participate in sports/band + parking permit
No book rental fees for any schools around us. In NE.
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Post by Linda on Jul 27, 2022 0:26:29 GMT
Most schools do “find a way” to get supplies for those who don’t bring them. The way is called “the teacher”, who spends her own money from a ridiculously insufficient salary to buy supplies for those who don’t. At least in my area, there are school supply drives and groups that donate school supplies esp. to underserved schools. I know when I was a Girl Scout leader - we bought and donated school supplies. And as a parent, I always send in extras and check with the teacher to see if there's any specific needed. I don't think it should be the teacher's responsibility (and I'm well aware that the teacher is the supply provider of last resort in many cases) and ideally the schools would be funded sufficiently that no one needs to bring in supplies - student or teacher - but I think in the meantime, those of us in the community who CAN help, should.
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Post by refugeepea on Jul 27, 2022 0:26:47 GMT
It costs more the higher the grade. It will probably be close to $100.00 now that my son is in middle school. I don't know about Chrome books. He doesn't use one, but the probably charge him anyway. Transportation is free. School breakfast and lunch are not free either. They were the last couple of years.
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