District 103 Kindergarten - tuition, alternatives? (Chicago, Evanston: daycare, school district, live)

[Al Hung]

My daughter should be enrolling in full-day kindergarten at Laura B. Sprague this fall. I'm being told that tuition is $3,500 for kindergarten because the school does not get money for kindergarten from the state.

1. It's been a while since I've attended school but don't recall my parents mentioning have to pay tuition for public school; how typical is this for IL schools?

2. For any others that have to pay tuition for their kids' public school education, what did/do you pay for kindergarten? $3500 seems excessive.

3. Can anyone in the district recommend alternative (if any) no-cost kindergarten programs?

It never occurred to me to research the cost of public school education, beyond registration fees, when house-searching and this is quite a shock to me. I did not budget $3500 into our first year expenses, let alone another year of daycare.

[wjj]

It's because you are enrolling in full day kindergarten. Normal kindergarten is half day and the enrollment fee is $87. But the fee for full day seems out of place (but that is what it states on the web site). District 96 which also feeds into Stevenson and covers Long Grove, Kildeer, and Lake County Buffalo Grove has a fee of $40 for both full day and half day kindergarten. So if D96 can figure it out I don't know why D103 cannot. Comparable districts feeding into the same highly rated HS. My kids went through D96 and Stevenson years ago but attended private kindergarten. There was no full day kindergarten in D96 back then.

[olive03]

Originally Posted by wjj

It's because you are enrolling in full day kindergarten. Normal kindergarten is half day and the enrollment fee is $87. But the fee for full day seems out of place (but that is what it states on the web site). District 96 which also feeds into Stevenson and covers Long Grove, Kildeer, and Lake County Buffalo Grove has a fee of $40 for both full day and half day kindergarten. So if D96 can figure it out I don't know why D103 cannot. Comparable districts feeding into the same highly rated HS. My kids went through D96 and Stevenson years ago but attended private kindergarten. There was no full day kindergarten in D96 back then.

Agree.

Former D96 family here as well. At the time that our youngest was going to Willow Grove, we had to pay tuition for full-day K too. I don't recall the amount but I believe it was between 3k - 5k?

Still cheaper compared to the private school we sent our kids to for preschool. Had we stayed there for full day K, we would have been looking at between 10k - 12k for the school year.

D103 is an excellent district. I think you'll be very happy there!

ETA: I've never heard of a no-cost full-day K program in Chicagoland... I believe that if you're wanting the least expensive option, it's going to be through 103.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by olive03

ETA: I've never heard of a no-cost full-day K program in Chicagoland... I believe that if you're wanting the least expensive option, it's going to be through 103.

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is full-day kindergarten by default and half-day on request. It has been that way since long before I was enrolled, and that was more than 20 years ago. 9:05 AM to 3:35 PM.

[olive03]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is full-day kindergarten by default and half-day on request. It has been that way since long before I was enrolled, and that was more than 20 years ago. 9:05 AM to 3:35 PM.

Interesting!

But for the OP's situation, I'm assuming that isn't an option as they aren't in D65.

[Vosges]

Ask for a fee waiver from D103. I bet they have it.

[bluedog_]

Originally Posted by olive03

ETA: I've never heard of a no-cost full-day K program in Chicagoland... I believe that if you're wanting the least expensive option, it's going to be through 103.

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is full-day kindergarten by default and half-day on request. It has been that way since long before I was enrolled, and that was more than 20 years ago. 9:05 AM to 3:35 PM.

Originally Posted by olive03

Interesting!

But for the OP's situation, I'm assuming that isn't an option as they aren't in D65.

Hiruko was simply pointing out an example of a no-cost full-day K program in Chicagoland as a response to olive03. But, yeah, certainly doesn't help the OP....

And this school year, D65 Kindergarten has been 0 hours/day at school until January when it became 9:30am-11:30am three days/week where it remains (unless you have a certain number of "priority flags"). Of course, this year is anomalous...But Evanston has arguably been the Chicago suburb with the least in person schooling. They have indicated their goal for next fall to be in person five days a week.

[chicagoRE]

District 95 also has all day, no cost kindergarten. So I think it is more common than some may think.

[chicagoRE]

We also have all day, no cost kindergarten in district 95. I think it may be more common than some think. You have the option to go half day as well.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by olive03

Agree.

Former D96 family here as well. At the time that our youngest was going to Willow Grove, we had to pay tuition for full-day K too. I don't recall the amount but I believe it was between 3k - 5k?

Still cheaper compared to the private school we sent our kids to for preschool. Had we stayed there for full day K, we would have been looking at between 10k - 12k for the school year.

D103 is an excellent district. I think you'll be very happy there!

ETA: I've never heard of a no-cost full-day K program in Chicagoland... I believe that if you're wanting the least expensive option, it's going to be through 103.

I don't think that is the case now. In D96, there is a high fee for preschool, but half day and full day kindergarten are both $40/year as I stated in my earlier post. Here is the fee schedule from the D96 web site for the 2020-2021 year.


Early Childhood/Blended Tuition – $2870 annual payment in full or $335.07 per month INFO

Half-Day/Full-Day Kindergarten – $40