St. Charles School District to drop cost of all-day kindergarten starting this fall, increase high school grad fees

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles School District 303 families will see the cost of all-day kindergarten drop this fall, while high school graduate fees are expected to increase.

At Monday’s School Board meeting, School Board members unanimously approved the decrease as part of a school fee schedule for the 2023-24 school year. The fee will drop from $1,800 or $200 per month for nine months to $1,620 or $180 per month for nine months next school year.

“That number ($1,620) is the same as what our early bird fee was last year. Because most families have taken advantage of that early bird fee, we know that our budget can sustain that,” Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Justin Attaway told School Board members during the board’s business committee meeting on Jan. 30.

At the same time, graduation fees are on the rise. High school graduation fees will increase from $30 to $50.

“We haven’t increased the graduation fee in some years and the $30 that we charge right now really doesn’t cover what the district spends per student for graduation,” Attaway said.

However, the board has changed the district’s policy to allow the fee to be waived for a student who would qualify for a waiver. Staff proposed changing the rules to allow graduation fees to be waived.

“We want to make sure that all students are able to participate, regardless of their ability to pay,” he said.

Staff also recommended that course fees be waived for those students who would qualify for a waiver.

Band, orchestra and choir fees also will increase next school year. Currently, the fee is $40, regardless of whether a student is participating in one of those activities or all three.

“You could potentially do all three and pay one fee of $40,” Attaway said. “Our costs have continued to go up. The main purpose of that fee is to fund some of the salaries and stipends that teachers receive for actually running those programs. And as our costs have gone up, the fee has not. We are proposing to restructure where it goes to $50 for participation in one, $75 for two and then $100 for three at the elementary level.”

There also is a small increase at all grade levels for instrument use. Students will see the current fee increase from $75 to $100 if they use a district instrument at school only.

At the same time, a rollover fee that was being charged per student if student fees were not paid by the last day of school each year is being eliminated.

“It’s very rarely ever used, so we are proposing to eliminate that fee altogether,” Attaway said.

He said many of the fee increases, such as replacing locks – the fee is increasing from $6 per lock to $7 per lock at the middle school and high school level – are because of increased costs that are being passed on to the school district.

This is the first year that fees are being added at Compass Academy, a competency-based and career pathway public high school of choice in District 303 that is accredited by the Illinois State Board of Education. The fees are being added to match those fees in place at St. Charles North and East high schools, Attaway said.

As Attaway told board members, the district could be revamping its fee structure in the future if school officials feel that it is warranted.

“We are planning to do a deep dive into school fees next year and likely looking at the entirety, potentially restructuring the way we do school fees altogether,” he said.

Board member Becky McCabe asked him to elaborate.

“What do you mean a deep drive and a huge change?” she asked.

Attaway said the issue needs to be studied first.

“Right now, we’ve run the same process for school fees for a long, long time, where we bring the schools in and they make recommendations and we filter the recommendations and bring them to the board,” he said. “What I’m talking about is a much more extensive process to where we are surveying surrounding districts, where we’re really looking at what it takes to minimally run our programs so we’re impacting our families the least. So we want to look at all of the fees that we charge and potentially consolidate so we don’t have as long a list of fees as we have now.”