Schools charging kids (Denver, Grand Junction: neighborhood, school district, college)

[DOUBLE H]

I was going to put this on the Colorado thread but have settled in on Denver.

The mornings news on the Grand Junction TV stations this morning have reported that starting this fall the school district in Douglas County will now be charging students fifty cents a day to ride the bus to school. Only Douglas County so far is doing this, for now anyway. The Douglas County school board voted 5 to 0 to start re-enacting fees. Also, according to the story, students will receive passes linked to special units on each bus to track rides.

[2bindenver]

Yup -up to $173 a year billed quarterly. I am waiting for an organized protest.

Taxpayers (homeowners) paid for those buses and they will run regardless of whether they are full or empty.

If you qualify for the low to free lunch program, your fee will be reduced or waived.

I can't imagine families with lots of kids. Good thing I only have one left.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

I was going to put this on the Colorado thread but have settled in on Denver.

The mornings news on the Grand Junction TV stations this morning have reported that starting this fall the school district in Douglas County will now be charging students fifty cents a day to ride the bus to school. Only Douglas County so far is doing this, for now anyway. The Douglas County school board voted 5 to 0 to start re-enacting fees. Also, according to the story, students will receive passes linked to special units on each bus to track rides.

Last year, the voters in Douglas County voted "no" on their school bond/levy. School isn't free and while most of us know that there is a lot of waste and high salaries for the "managers" of the school boards, the reality is that when schools need to find money, they have to get creative. A few months ago, the parents of Douglas County school kids got a survey and they opted, more than any other option, for bus fees.

BTW, Douglas County isn't the only one having to deal with this. Cherry Creek SD, the one we're in, had their bond approved but still have to cut. They have changed their start/end times for schools which will require fewer buses because one bus can take 3 different groups of kids around instead of having 3 buses taking 3 groups to school. They estimate they'll be saving nearly $2 million just by doing something small.

So...until Colorado can figure out what to do with their budget and doesn't take money away from schools, there is going to be some "pain." You MAY have to pay for your kids to ride the bus, you MAY have to pay extra for them to play sports or be in a club, you MAY have to pay for computer lab fees, you MAY have your kids walk a little further to the bus stop. It sucks, but it's the reality right now.

[Moonwalkr]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

Last year, the voters in Douglas County voted "no" on their school bond/levy. School isn't free and while most of us know that there is a lot of waste and high salaries for the "managers" of the school boards, the reality is that when schools need to find money, they have to get creative. A few months ago, the parents of Douglas County school kids got a survey and they opted, more than any other option, for bus fees.

BTW, Douglas County isn't the only one having to deal with this. Cherry Creek SD, the one we're in, had their bond approved but still have to cut. They have changed their start/end times for schools which will require fewer buses because one bus can take 3 different groups of kids around instead of having 3 buses taking 3 groups to school. They estimate they'll be saving nearly $2 million just by doing something small.

So...until Colorado can figure out what to do with their budget and doesn't take money away from schools, there is going to be some "pain." You MAY have to pay for your kids to ride the bus, you MAY have to pay extra for them to play sports or be in a club, you MAY have to pay for computer lab fees, you MAY have your kids walk a little further to the bus stop. It sucks, but it's the reality right now.

As far as I know, the bond is for a building fund, so it's being used for infrastructure improvements and new buildings. The instructional portion, salaries, etc, has to come from the state, so that's why CCSD still needed to trim their budget. What sucks is for them to change start time from 8am to 9am for dual working parents. The funny part is that we probably have 1 school bus anyway for my kid's elementary school, pretty much everyone walks or is dropped off.

[VALGAL222]

They have to do something, I would rather they charge for additional services and make it a "in your face" fee than quietly cut teacher's salaries or positions. Perhaps people will be spurred to action and a better solution can be found. I doubt people would be inspired to action by the second option (cutting teacher's salaries) like they would the first one (impacting THEIR pocketbook.)

[ebeth79]

I guess since my kids were always in private schools prior to us moving here, these fees aren't out of the ordinary to me. On college campuses, and in private schools everyone has to pay "technology fees" - when your child participates in extracirricular activities (sports, clubs, etc) there are always uniforms, or dues to be paid (and that's been my experience even way back to the days when I was in a pubic jr/sr high school).

It's sad to collect money for something like busses, but the reality is the districts have to have the money from somewhere. If the state continues to cut funding to education, then the districts have no choice but to charge families for services. The alternative if you don't want to pay the bus fee, take your kid to school. If you work and can't (as is the case with a majorityof families, I'm sure) then find a kid who drives that your kid can hitch a ride with. I bet even in the latter scenerio you're going to be asked to help defray the cost of gas. And, for some reason many of us don't think anything about giving Susie down the street $5-10/week to chauffeur our child back and forth to school, but Heaven help us that we might have to pay the school $5/week in gas money. It's the same thing.

And I for one would much rather this option than have fewer teachers, or have the teachers take a pay cut. These people literally hold our future in their hands and they deserve all the respect and pay that we can give them.

[suzco]

While I dislike the idea of schools needing to cut back on important services at all, I find the idea of charging students/families for transportation to their designated neighborhood schools unfair.

Getting to school is not an extracurricular activity or an "extra" that students choose. If the district has schools that serve the neighborhood (not talking about students who open enroll or choice in to a school that is not their neighborhood school; they already must provide their own transportation) that students cannot walk to, it's not the students' choice. It spreads the cost of supporting the school unfairly onto the families in the district who don't live in walking distance of their assigned/designated schools.

[treedonkey]

As annoying as any newly concocted fee is, this one seems reasonable and the price seems pretty low. Even if you have 6 kids it would cost about the same per day as that big ol' cup of Starbuck's caloric explosion.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

As annoying as any newly concocted fee is, this one seems reasonable and the price seems pretty low. Even if you have 6 kids it would cost about the same per day as that big ol' cup of Starbuck's caloric explosion.

So charge all students for supplies or something similar. The districts receive per pupil funding from the state. If they serve the area the kids live, and they're getting the per capita funding for the student, the cost of getting to school shouldn't fall on the individuals just because they live too far away to walk.

[Moonwalkr]

Originally Posted by suzco

While I dislike the idea of schools needing to cut back on important services at all, I find the idea of charging students/families for transportation to their designated neighborhood schools unfair.

Getting to school is not an extracurricular activity or an "extra" that students choose. If the district has schools that serve the neighborhood (not talking about students who open enroll or choice in to a school that is not their neighborhood school; they already must provide their own transportation) that students cannot walk to, it's not the students' choice. It spreads the cost of supporting the school unfairly onto the families in the district who don't live in walking distance of their assigned/designated schools.

I'm glad we live just outside the 2mi walking boundary for CCHS. One neighborhood over and they have to walk. 2mi is good exercise for teens anyway. It's not bad compared to the average walking boundary for metro area HS's at 2.5mi.