Saturday, March 06, 1999
Fairfield may erase school fees
K-6 parents could get break
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
FAIRFIELD — Parents of elementary students in the Fairfield Schools might not have to dig so deep into their pockets to pay for school supplies next summer.
Board members have directed Superintendent Charles Wiedenmann to prepare a proposal that would eliminate school fees for students in grade kindergarten through six. The plan will also include a standard list of supplies, grade-by-grade, that parents would be expected to buy for their children.
“We've gotten a lot of com plaints from parents that they have to pay fees plus they get school supply lists that average $30 and upwards,” said Catherine Milligan, assistant superintendent.
Fees would still be charged to cover the cost of materials for students in grades 7-12.
The district is considering the change in part because of requirements in Senate Bill 412, which mandates that districts set aside and spend 4 percent of their budget on instructional materials.
For Fairfield, that means increasing the amount of money the board reserves for textbooks and materials — from $500,000 to as much as $1.5 million for the 1999-2000 school year, Mr. Wiedenmann said.
“If you don't spend it, it stays there,” Mr. Wiedenmann said. “I'd love to take that $1 million to pay teachers, but we can't.”
Still, there are some good points associated with eliminating fees, Mr. Wiedenmann said. It would reduce teacher, clerk and treasurer time for collection and record keeping. The amount of money normally col lected by the fees would be added to the budget for each building, based on the number of students, Mr. Wiedenmann said.
The board should have the proposal later this month for action.
“Let's test drive it for a year and see how it works. We can always change it,” board member Anne Crone said.
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