Before and after school care (Minneapolis: day care, how much, home)

[fabdan]

Hello all,

I am currently trying to establish my budget to live in the MSP area.
Did not decide yet on which school but I will have my 2 kids in a public elementary school (one kid in K, the other in 2nd grade) and will likely need before and after school care since both my wife and I will work.

1. Can someone tell me how much I should budget for that expense ?
2. Also are public schools really free (sorry, I am abroad now so I am not 100% sure how it works in the U.S.), are there any expenses to plan for ?

Thanks.

[golfgal]

After school care in our district is run through the YMCA at the various elementary schools. It runs about $11/session so it depends on how often you would need it but about $110/week if you use it before/after school each day.

Public schools are free. There are some costs however, field trips, etc. that parents are asked to pay for. Most districts have some kind of assistance for those not able to pay though. When you get into middle school and high school there are other fees for participating in sports, activities, etc. and those vary widely from $50/activity to $1000+ depending on the district and activity.

[Kebinminn]

It depends on the school some but I'd expect $25 a day for the school aged child and another $10-$15 a day for the kindergartner. It varies from school to school for kindergarten, some offer all day free, some all day with a fee, some half day only.

Some elementary schools have you pay for field trips, others have those paid for by the PTO. Music lessons would likely be extra as well. You'll also need to buy school supplies, in elementary I've found the cost to be minimal. There's extra things that come up but I haven't found it to be bad in our district.

[MnMomma]

Minneapolis Kids (Minneapolis Public School's before/after school:

Program Fees: Effective August 30, 2010 Fees are determined by your child's elementary start time. You may enroll in one, two or three components.

Before School (Mon-Fri, 6:30-8:05 am) - $6.55/day
Before School (Mon-Fri, 6:30-8:40 am or 9:40 am) - $10.30/day
High Five/Kindergarten (Mon-Fri, am or pm) - $15.45/day
After School (Mon-Fri, 1:45 or 2:20-6 pm) - $15.55/day
After School (Mon-Fri, 3:00-6:00 pm) - $11.80/day
Release Day Care (Full-day care for days when school is not in session, 6:30 am – 6:00 pm) - $38.25

Minneapolis Kids School Age Care

[StilltheSame]

Before and aftercare is very expensive here. I could not believe the cost when I moved here. For 2 kids it ended up approximately $40 per day - and that didnt include late start days or Early Release -I see why so many parents here have 1 parent at home during school years.