Dist. 87 plans lower fees for '08

Two student fees in Glenbard High School District 87 likely will drop again next year, two years after they reached an all-time high.

School board members are looking at a plan to reduce the annual registration fee by $25 to $100 and the per-sport athletic fee to $130 from $140.

While the change will mean $251,000 less in revenue for the district during the 2008-09 school year, lowering fees was a commitment the board made two years ago when it first substantially raised them.

At the time, they were facing dramatic cuts to non-athletic and co-curricular programs. Voters had just rejected a request to raise taxes.

"Two years ago we made fairly Draconian changes to the fee structure to maintain programs people wanted," board member Tom Voltaggio said Monday night. "I'd love to see (the decrease) be more aggressive … but it needs to be responsible."

In 2005, the board added $125 in activity fees to the then-$55 registration fee bringing the new total up to $180 per student. That was dropped to $125 per student in 2006, after voters approved a request to borrow money to pay off loans and restore the seventh-class period that had also been cut in 2005.

This past spring, school board members told the administration it wanted them to look aggressively at fees for this year.

By dropping the registration fee, the district will lose $204,000 in revenue and it will see $47,000 less in money from the lower athletic fees.

The board is scheduled to vote on the fees in November.