District U-46 School Board members voted unanimously Monday to use COVID-19 relief money one final time to cover the cost of registration and instructional fees for the 2024-25 school year, with the expense shifting back to parents the following year.
“I (want) to make sure families were aware that we have ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding left and that is what we’re using to cover the fees for next year,” board member Dawn Martin said prior to the vote.
Deputy Superintendent of Operations Ann Williams said that district staff will be reaching out to parents to make sure they are aware that the fee waivers will be ending.
That said, staff will research looking into other ways to continue fee waivers at the board’s request, Williams said.
“It could easily be cost prohibitive (for the district to cover the fees),” board member Kate Thommes said. “I know it’s been an advantage to a lot of families to not have to come up with the extra few hundred bucks.”
U-46 has been using pandemic relief money to cover fees since the start of the 2021-22 school year as a way offering help to families who were struggling with COVID-related job loss and the subsequent increase in costs resulting from post-pandemic inflations, which is starting to ease.
Speaking after the board meeting Tuesday, Assistant Superintendent of Finance Frank Williams said $2.9 million has been budgeted from ESSER III Grant money to cover fees for the 2024-25 school year.
“The total for the last three school years has been $8.5 million,” he said.
Registration and instructional material fees help cover the cost of classroom supplies for instruction, including digital resources, textbooks and repairs needed for Chromebook computers, Williams said.
For the 2020-21 school year, those fees ranged from $245 to $285 for high school students and $167 to $207 for middle school students, according to the district’s website.
Parents are still responsible for paying optional fees for high school students, which remain the same in the 2024-25 school year as they were this year. They include:
- Athletic participation fee — $150 per sport;
- Athletic fee football/lacrosse — $200;
- Yearbook — $45;
- Behind the Wheel Driver Education — $250;
- Driver’s Ed textbook — $13;
- Lifeguard course fee — $45.75;
- Parking permit — $100.
For middle school students, the participation fee is $80 per sport with no student or family maximum. For high school students, there is a maximum of two sports fees per school year and a family maximum of four sports fees per year.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
