<p>The private school I attended had ID cards that were just our name and school and year. You could say they were free, or you could say that our tuition covered it. It wasn’t a big deal…the only time we ever used them was to get free bus rides and student discounts at stores. At dances and functions, they’d screen guys to make sure they were from the school, but there was always an administrator who knew every guy in the school by face. (Our dean of students/assistant headmaster and his assistant always knew everybody’s name).</p>
<p>My friend at a private school in DC said the students made a game with the IDs, where people tried to collect IDs from as many people as possible, and where IDs of certain individuals were more sought after. They had other rules and whatnot—I thought it was weird/interesting.</p>
<p>At the private school my kids attend, I believe there are many folks on campus who know all the kids by name & face (230 or so per grade in HS & fewer in lower grades K-8). Not sure that IDs are often needed or used (my kids lose theirs regularly & haven’t been much handicapped by it).</p>
<p>At my public school (in a fairly affluent small city–also plenty of poor/lower-middle-class kids, like me) it costs $40 to get an ID card. It used to be $25. I guess they thought it’s high time to catch up with inflation? :rolleyes: Supposedly you need them to take part in extracurricular activities, but nobody’s ever asked to see mine. I don’t think we get any discounts around town for them, either, except when it comes time to get a hold of the summer reading book, then students get 15% off at one of the bookstores. (However, we can also get a copy of the books from the English teachers, so unless someone really wants a copy of Crime and Punishment to have and to cherish forever, I don’t see why they’d go to the trouble of buying it. On the other hand, most of my peers don’t seem to share my sentiments about buying things.)</p>
<p>It’d make sense to need the card to check out books from the school library, but I always go to the public library. My mom (a teacher) did check out a book… on my account… so she must not have had to show a card. Wait–that’s kind of irregular! I didn’t find out about it until the end of the school year, when I got a letter from the school district saying that I wasn’t going to get my report card until I paid all my fines, and I showed it to my mom and said, “Geez, what could I possibly have been fined for?” And she said “Oh… it must have been that book…” Sure enough, there it was–the only near-infraction I’ve ever committed, and it was actually my mother. :p</p>
<p>Err, wow I didn’t know schools even charged money for ID cards, class supplies, clubs, sports, etc! AFAIK, at my school, just about everything I just listed is free. Or at least, the school doesn’t charge for them.</p>
<p>Our yearbooks are about $70 or $80…absolutely ridiculous. I wouldn’t pay that much for a piece of crap. I can take my own pictures of my friends, and not have to have photos of people I don’t even care about…</p>
<p>I paid $68 for my yearbook last year, and it was horrible. Oh, the layout was awesome, and the pictures could definitely have been worse, but geez, the writing! There’s lots of writing, and all of it is just awful. Spelling mistakes, terrible grammar, unintelligible syntax… it was clear that nobody with any writing ability had edited it. :rolleyes: :(</p>
<p>At my school, the ID cards are free, but if you want it to be an ASB card, it costs $35. The ASB card allows you to get into home sporting events free, as well as reduced prices on dances and other school events.</p>
I didn’t find out about it until the end of the school year, when I got a letter from the school district saying that I wasn’t going to get my report card until I paid all my fines, and I showed it to my mom and said, “Geez, what could I possibly have been fined for?” And she said “Oh… it must have been that book…” Sure enough, there it was–the only near-infraction I’ve ever committed, and it was actually my mother. 
:p</p>