Kaneland middle-school book fee may go up

Parents of Kaneland Harter Middle School students may pay 15 percent more for textbooks next school year, under a proposal the school board will vote on May 11.

The fee would change from $130 per child to $150.

It was the only fee change recommended by the district's finance advisory committee. According to Associate Superintendent Julie-Ann Fuchs, the committee thought the fee should be between that of elementary students and high school students. Primary-grade students pay $130; high schoolers pay $175.

"I think it makes sense. It is midway between the other fees," said board member Teresa Witt.

Board member Pedro Rivas asked why the board has never discussed offering a discount for families with more than one child in the schools. "There has got to be some consideration to cut a family some slack," he said.

Witt - the mother of three students - disagreed. "If the cost (to educate a child) is the cost," the parents should pay the full amount per child, she said.

Fuchs noted that families facing financial hardship can ask to have fees reduced, if they qualify for receiving free or reduced-price school lunches. They can also make plans for installment payments with the district. All fees have to be paid before the child can receive a transcript of their grades.

Fuchs noted that about 17 percent of the district's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

She also reported that the district is investigating using a collection agency to collect unpaid fees. It had hoped to collect unpaid fees through the state's Local Debt Recovery Program. That program takes monies owed to local governments, such as unpaid water bills, out of state payments such as income-tax refunds. Kaneland agreed to join the program in 2012. But in 2013, the state comptroller's office halted plans to collect school debts.

Fuchs said the finance committee also wants to develop a policy for setting fees, so that it doesn't have to discuss fees year after year. One suggestion was to allow administrators to increase fees by the rate of inflation.