DeKalb 428 school board weighs whether to waive start-of-year fees due to remote learning

DeKALB – DeKalb District 428 families may get their registration fees waived this year due to students beginning the year remotely, though the board won't take up the issue for a vote until the first meeting in September.

The D-428 Board of Education on Tuesday deliberated over whether to waive fees for families struggling to make ends meet due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its financial impacts. Currently, K-5 families pay $140 for registration fees, grades 6 through 8 pay $160 and high schoolers pay $175.

Families who qualify for free meals, however, automatically have those fees waived, and those who qualify for reduced meals only pay half.

Additional course fees at the high school level could be waived also, including fees which go to courses such as drivers education ($300), sports and activities ($75 per middle school sport or $150 maximum; or $200 for high-school level sport).

For this year, those struggling extra from the COVID-19 pandemic could have their fees waived even if they did not qualify for free and reduced lunch, pending board approval at their September meeting.

Board Member Valerie Pena-Hernandez said she thinks the registration fees should be waived at the very least, because students are not returning to school in person.

"We have to be considerate, we're in the midst of a pandemic and a lot of people have lost their jobs," she said. "So we eat the bill for a year. And I know it sounds horrible but also these taxpayers are not getting a relief on their taxes. They're still having to pay taxes so this is a way we can give relief to our taxpayers."

For the FY2019-2020 school year, the district collected $452,000 cumulatively in base registration fees, $63,000 in class fees not including driver's education, and $53,000 in sports fees.

James Horne, DeKalb High School principal, said while he understands some families may be struggling with money these days, he'd be nervous about waiving all fees, since the money collected at the high school level goes to funds used by teachers to pay for special equipment needed in those classes or sports, which could be sent home to students to use remotely.

"The elimination of fees does make me nervous just because I have a responsibility to get tools in the hands of teachers," Horne said. "And ultimately the goal and the hope is to get materials in the hands of students."