??? inspired by Maggie Workman's kids' school fees About This Page:

[Teresa]

In reading all the responses, I realized that some people may not have PUBLIC school fees where they live.

Does your State have school fees, or are they paid for by your taxes?

Indiana has had fees for as long as I can remember. Actually, Maggie's costs were close to what my fees were in H.S., 24 years ago!!! Older kids (went to public schools, they always complain that THEY weren't loved enough to be sent to private school like 2 younger ones) ALL had big fees. (there is free or reduced "book rental" - which is what the fees are called - and lunches for those with little or no money.

[SHEANA1226]

We have school taxes we pay at the end of the year.

[Joanne929]

Public school in MA is paid for in our taxes. Which is good and bad - if you happen to live in a city/town that relies heavily on state/local taxes for your budget, and there are cuts, well, you know what happens - the school suffers.
We pay for school lunches out of pocket ($1.50 covers lunch and milk).

[CRCrazy]

We don't have too many required fees here.

There was talk of requiring a fee if you wanted to participate in athletics at the high school level - but I don't think it ever came to pass.

While NH doesn't have a sales/income tax - we do have HIGH property taxes that pay for our schools.

Wow - your lunch prices are CHEAP!! We pay $2.25 at the elementary level, and $2.75 at the high school level - and adult lunches are $3.00. I wouldn't mind paying if you got any actual food for that price! They do have free/reduced lunches based on income - but that's a federal program.

They do require certain supply items - for example, if you are taking any honors math programs in high school - you need to have a TI-83 graphing calculator or better, at $84 or more.

[RobDVC]

School Taxes.

[Chrissi]

Most everything school-related is covered here by property taxes (really high in this district thanks to a new school and major renovations to all three of the others in the last ten years which is just one of many reasons that we rent a home instead of owning [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]). Property taxes cover a number of things, though, not just school taxes like they do in some other districts (garbage removal, that sort of thing).

School lunches have always been out of pocket unless you participate in the federal free lunch program. Lunches run from about $1.25 for elementary (parents buy the tickets and the kids carry a lunch ticket so they don't have to carry cash) to about $2.25 for highschool. My highschool had a senior privilege program that allowed seniors off school property for lunch for 1 1/2 hours during 5th period if they kept their grades up. And lunch was up to you. You can imagine how many cheap lunch options are close to that highschool. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Tink and co.]

We have fees mostly for extra-curricular things and lab fee type expenses. For middle school band my daughter's fee was $62 and we had to buy her a pair of black pants or black skirt. She had a $10 lab fee in both math and science as well.
Field trips even in elementary school incur a fee. We used to collect for each trip (usually between $5-10), but now we collect $30 from each student at the beginning of the year.
I know we have an athletic fee in high school here of $200 to participate.
Students are also responsible for their own supplies, paper, pencils, kleenex everything. Some high school level classes have a book fee as well.
When I was in elementary and middle school in California, we just showed up with our lunches, and the school had the pencils, glue, paper, etc. In high school we bought our own supplies and had a fee for AP classes, yearbook, etc.
Education is funded out of our general state fund here, so no special tax. Sadly, though, last time I checked we were 49th on the list of per pupil expenditures.

[simbarel]

The majority of my property taxes go towards schools.

[Teresa]

[ QUOTE ]

We pay for school lunches out of pocket ($1.50 covers lunch and milk).

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow! We pay $4 a day, per kid. More at the Middle/High School level. Next Year, it will be MANDATORY (as in, EVERYONE will pay for lunches, and then if your kid wants to bring their own, there is no refund - it will be included in our school fees)

[graygables]

Our local district has all sorts of fees in addition to our skyrocketing taxes. There were book fees, lab fees, band fees, and all kinds of extracurricular fees. Last time I paid them, it was about $200 for the year. I do know that now *all* extracurricular is parent/booster/privately funded since the tax levy continues to fail.

With the e-school we use now, there are NO fees. They provide a computer & printer, money toward our internet connection, a complete, and I mean *complete* curriculum, including paint, markers, crayons, paper, science supplies (including sand, rocks, seeds), lots of manipulatives, music, art, etc. Funny how they can manage and still show a decent profit. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img]

[TinkerBelz]

I am TERRIFIED to find out how much stuff is going to cost!!!

[Happymommy]

I don't know-- someone told me there's a registration fee, but I haven't gotten the bill yet. Last time I checked, my school taxes were $2500 a year (they may have gone up), so I hope I don't have too many other fees- we'll find out soon enough.

[luv2sail]

I live in "Tax Jersey"....need I say more? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]

[DrDolphin]

Florida has property taxes to pay for schools... at least I think so since I have never heard of anyone in public schools here paying fees.

[Cam22]

We have school fees and book rental fees along with workbook charges and lab fees. Freshmen must also purchase standard gym uniforms. Certain classes, e.g. art have additional fees.