U-46 wants to charge $500 for driver education

Elgin Area School District U-46 is asking the state for permission to hike driver education fees to 10 times the limit under state law.

The school board Monday night voted to send the Illinois State Board of Education a five-year waiver request that would allow Bartlett, Elgin, Larkin, Streamwood and South Elgin high schools to charge up to $500 per student in course fees. A previous waiver, which allowed U-46 to charge students $300 each, will expire at the start of the school year, district lawyer Pat Broncato told the board.

According to the Illinois School Code, school districts "may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed $50," to students who participate in driver education classes. Fees for low-income students are waived.

Now's a time when every penny counts for the 41,000-student district, which expects to start the 2010-11 school year with more than a $40 million deficit.

"It costs us a lot more than $50 a student to provide drivers education," district spokesman Tony Sanders said.

Public schools, by law, are required to offer driver education classes, but districts often end up footing much of the bill for the program themselves.

According to an analysis completed by former Chief Financial Officer Ron Ally, the driver education program at the five high schools costs about $250,000 to run each year. The state reimburses U-46 for slightly less than half of the cost, and U-46 pays about half out of pocket. With just a third of students taking driver education able to pay fees each year, student fees bring only in $11,650, according to the analysis.

Bumping up the fees would allow U-46 to recover about $116,500.

After receiving the waiver request, the state board will then send it onto the General Assembly for a vote. If approved, the fee change would affect students starting in the second semester, Broncato said.

Charge: Previous waiver will expire when school starts