Pay for School Supplies? I Thought Taxes Did That!

Parent Cafe
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<p>It is tough for some extras because folks don’t look down the road at the ongoing costs or they don’t see the need. Somebody’s going to figure it out along the lines of safety issues (like sprinklers or a lack of) and pin some district’s ear’s back. I watched a game one year on the varsity “girls” field where two D1 soccer prospects blew knees “untouched” on a bad grass field. Neither kid made it to college to play soccer and prior to injuries that day were heavily recruited. Parents should have tagged the district as the stadium (boys football) was always available, but reserved for boys football. </p>

<p>Not everybody’s kid is going to get to college or pay for it on just studies. It’s a shame to see something go away in a freak second. Nice kids too.</p>

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<p>We live in a Chicago suburb - our high school is 2100 students, and some of those students come from rural areas up to 7-8 miles away. The district provides busses for any student who lives 1.5 miles from school. We live 1.2, so we did not qualify. So as soon as both our kids could get their licenses, we did it so they could drive to school. They were both heavily involved in after school activities, which in the late fall/winter months, meant by the time they’d get out, it was dark outside. Add in sidewalks that weren’t always shoveled of the snow, and I did not feel like it was safe for them to walk home.</p>

<p>So bus service is free, but I pulled out my '06-'07 ‘registration’ fee invoice, and it was $305. That included $100 fee for choir (our band kids also have a $100 fee). On top of that, I had another $325 for my daughter’s participation in show choir, which as of two years ago, is now a graded class, but we still have to pay an extra fee for it to cover costuming, competitions, clinicians, etc. Any national competitions are extra, and those typically ran between $300-$450 a year. When all was said and done, by the end of a year, I’d spent close to $1000. However, most parents were careful to never complain about show choir/music fees for fear that too much pressure on administration to cover the costs would result in them canceling the program. </p>

<p>Our community is unique in that real estate runs the gamut - we have lots of hispanic immigrants who live in rental housing, as well as gated communities with million dollar homes. I believe that any child who qualifies for a free or reduced lunch program, is also eligible to have any school-related fees waivered or reduced. The free/reduced lunch program seems to be the standard by which they subsidize registration and participation fees.</p>

<p>Our school district has also gone to referendum twice now, without success. Some class sizes of core courses are 30+. But there’s a small contingent of people who want the artificial turf in the football stadium. Three years ago, our new (and now gone) superintendent (who was all about athletics) directed the student activities director to provide fireworks at all our home football games, so that after each touchdown we scored, fireworks would go off. First of all, our football team sucks, and residents that live next to the school raised a ruckus when fireworks were basically being shot off in their backyards after 10PM. When taxpayers learned this is how our money was being spent, yet class sizes were getting out of control, and some classrooms didn’t have enough desks, it set up a mistrust in the community, so that when they did go for a referendum, the community wouldn’t pass it. I don’t blame them - as a parent with two kids in the school, I voted no - the administration’s priorities were way out of whack. But unfortunately, the superintendent has been gone a year (has already been fired from his new job when he tried the same kinds of things there), and we have a new school board, but it doesn’t take more than one dumb decision to set up the mistrust that we now experience.</p>

<p>The good news is that, at least my kids are done there and I don’t have to worry about it anymore. I believe over the next 2-3 years, the damage to the community will be repaired and the district will be back on track.</p>

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<p>I agree that when priorities are out of whack, and bad decisions are repeatedly made, the trust is lost. Our district has had two referendums voted down for just that reason. Even though I thought the turf was a good decision, I was anoyed that some costs were hidden. The turf DOES require maintenance. In fact, it needs to be sprinkled, just like real grass. You can imagine how nuts people went when a sprinkler system was being installed!!! The BOE had not been honest about maintenance & several people were expecting lawnmowers to be purchased next. The BOE never provided clear comparison of costs & benefits of either type of field. The result was angry taxpayers. It was a sutuation that was completely avoidable.</p>

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<p>I’m glad to get that information from you; I fully expect this issue to come up again. I know that some of the vocal opponents of it last time mentioned that it’s not maintenance free, but that’s exactly how our community would act. </p>

<p>Just out of curiosity, with the artificial turf, do more groups/teams now use the field? One of the benefits being touted for this project was that now all the teams (boys and girls soccer, lacrosse, football, etc.) could use the fields for practices and games. Also, the marching band can practice on it all they want without having to use the parking lot!</p>

<p>My daughter played indoor soccer on the artificial turf a few years ago, and actually liked it, except for the small pieces of rubber that end up in her shoes, bags, etc.</p>

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<p>Those little black pills from the artificial turf were a pain!</p>

<p>One problem that developed from the artificial turf on the football field is that the band kids were warned not to roll around on the field with their skin in contact with the field. Looks like the football players were getting some weird infections and the artificial field was suspect #1.</p>

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<p>All the field turf fields I’ve worked on had no sprinkler system or watering needs. Could your district possibility bought one of those hybrid turf/grass fields that combines real and artifical grass?</p>

<p>It is very true about the little black nuggets. They get everywhere. I just figured I’d save mine and use them for my own personal field, one shoe at a time. From a sporting point of view a correctly installed field turf field is in the basic sense a true level playing surface. No crowns or bumps to worry.</p>

<p>The biggest advantage to this type of field up north is the durability, team after team can work on them and the wear is minimal to none. The biggest worries are sunflower seeds, gatoraide and gum. </p>

<p>As far as infections from the surface, that’s the first I’ve heard. They may want to check the paint or chalk use to mark lines. Chalk is lime in most cases and will cause a reaction on alot of skins. If the football players are getting it and no one else, I would think another space is suspect. Like wrestlers rash, some room they use needs to be disinfected.</p>

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<p>Oh, I dearly miss the <em>reasonable</em> cost of things in the Atlanta area (Gwinnett County) schools. My children moved to California to live with me, and it’s <em>nuts</em> here. Lunches in Georgia? $1.10, I think. Lunches here? $3.75/$4.00/$4.50, depending on the semester, current food contract, etc. And the food is <em>worse</em> because they don’t have cafeterias in the sense I’m used to. I was used to field trips with a cost of 5-10 dollars. Here, we regularly get less than 2 weeks notice for things costing more than $100! And no, no school buses – my daughter’s transit expenses are more than $60 a month, because she has to take public transit and there are no free passes for students. I never had to pay a fee for her to have art classes or other “electives” in Georgia, but it’s standard here to say, “Your kid signed up for Art, please send a check for $125.00 to cover supplies and teaching expense.”</p>

<p>I long for the days when I was just asked to buy Kleenex and some pencils, instead of an $80 calculator!</p>

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<p>The sprinkler system is needed because the turf temperature soars as it bakes in the sun. The plastic (or whatever composite material it’s made of) can be degraded, or the underlayer will have problems if it dries out. I really didn’t pay all that much attention to those details. It’s not a grass/turf hybrid. I had never realized sprinklers were needed. When townsfold saw them going in, we immediately thought it was more graft/corruption/stupidity of the town politicians. Apparently, this is the state-of-the-art.</p>

<p>Teriwtt, the turf field has been wonderful for all the sports programs. After the big stink about putting in permanent lines for football, the athletic director realized he had to be fair to all sports. Every team uses it pretty equally. Baseball hated having no dirt basepaths, but the other teams are thrilled. Even gym classes are better, as no teacher is told to stay off while the grass/mud problems resolve. The town just converted another field to turf, so I’m hoping the installation of both was not done by some politician’s idiot cousin & that the life span we are expecting is accurate.</p>

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<p>“The sprinkler system is needed because the turf temperature soars as it bakes in the sun.”</p>

<p>Speaking of baking in the sun, did anyone else see that playground in Arlington, TX that caught on fire due to the wood chips overheating? I’m surprised something like that hasn’t happened before. I’m sure there are plenty of playgrounds in the South where wood chips are used - will those go by the wayside now, or will playgrounds now be required to have sprinkler systems?</p>