Crystal Lake District 47 elementary, middle school student fees to stay flat

Fees for students in Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 will stay the same for the 2020-21 school year, with the exception of preschool registration, which will go up by $5.

Fees for kindergartners through fifth-graders will remain at $110, and at $140 for middle school students in the district.

The only fee increase for next year is related to the Wehde Early Childhood Center.

Non-tuition Preschool registration fees for this school year were $95, and will increase to $100 next school year. There will be no increase in preschool tuition, however.

The price for preschool transportation, which is optional for tuition-based students, will increase to $500 a year. Students with an Individual Education Plans, developed for children enrolled in Wehde's early childhood special education program, get free transportation.

Cathy Nelson, assistant superintendent of business services for District 47, said the transportation fees need to be paid in full before the district is able to assign routes for the preschool.

About 30 to 40 students whose families pay tuition to the early childhood center are transported by the district, Nelson said, and a lot of students are on Individualized Education Plans.

Though student fees are going up slightly, Nelson asked the board to keep tuition for pre-kindergarten the same.

"We have additional programs that have been rising in the area, so we have some competition with that," she said. "We also need those tuition kids to keep our blended classrooms as well, so we want to make sure we still have that available for our community."

The student fees for the 2020-21 school year were approved unanimously by the District 47 board at its meeting Tuesday night.