Suburb schools in a fee-for-all // Student fees draw complaints

A check for the football team. A check for the chess club. Acheck for the band. A check for books. A check for driver'seducation.

Student fees, a sort of stealth tuition flying below the radarof local property tax caps, are becoming increasingly common atsuburban public high schools.

Once rare and limited largely to such extracurricular activitiesas sportts, today fees are charged for a wide range of supplies andprograms, including textbooks and advance-placement courses. And thetotal bill, parents complain, can run to hundreds of dollars."It keeps going up and up like the taxes, and we're alreadypaying taxes," said Kathy Morgan of Schaumburg, who paid about $250in book and registration fees this fall for her two sons at PalatineTownship High School District 211.Although many parents are unhappy, school officials insist thatthey have little choice. In an era of rising educational costs andtough tax caps, they say, student fees are necessary to maintainexisting programs. They also say student fees are likely to becomemore widespread over the next few years."I think the users fees are a sign of things to come," said RonBjurstrom, student services director at Libertyville High School.Among fees being levied in suburban schools:Downers Grove District 99 charges a $150 registration andtextbook-rental fee. Parking permits cost another $100.Elgin Area Unit District 46 charges high school students $55 toparticipate in a sport, and $110 to participate in two or moresports.District 211 charges $50 for driver's education classes, anddistrict officials are seeking state permission to raise the maximumallowable fee for such classes to $350. But, they insist, they haveno immediate plan to bump up the charge.How can tuition-free public schools, supported for the most partby local property taxes, add on such fees?" `Public' does not equal `free,' " said Mary Daly Lewis,professor of education at Roosevelt University and a former Oak Parkschool board member.In 1975, the Illinois Supreme Court cleared the way for studentfees, ruling that a charge for "supplemental supplies and services"did not deprive students of their right to a free education. Then,in 1991, the General Assembly passed a law prohibiting schooldistricts from raising tax levies by more than 5 percent a yearwithout voter approval.Seeing no alternatives, districts began jacking up old studentfees and creating new ones."That's all that's left," said Gary Atkins, a spokesman for theIllinois Association of School Boards.When a tax cap forced budget cuts of $5 million in District 99,for example, the district responded by raising the studentregistration fee to $150 in 1994, up from $110 in 1993."Our preference would be not to charge this, but there's nochoice," Assistant Supt. William Renner said.Student fees can be a particularly heavy burden for familieswith several children. Although high schools tend to impose thehighest fees, elementary schools typically impose fees as well.For Melea Smith, a single mother with two children in elementaryschool and one child in high school, that meant an extra $500 in bookcosts and fees this year - a sum so large she made a point of settingaside money over the summer."It seems like piddling stuff, but when you start to add it up,it makes your head spin," said Smith, who nonetheless praises herchildren's Naperville schools as "excellent."Student fees typically are charged for discretionary resourcesin high demand and limited supply - such as the parking spaces inDistrict 99 - and for specialized courses such as art, graphics andwoodworking. Such vocational classes, officials say, require morematerials and are more expensive to offer."The message we get from the community is if students are takingmore expensive courses, they should pay for them," said Bjurstrom, ofLibertyville.Most fees, administrators said, only partially offset the costto the school. Most districts, for example, charge a fee fordriver's education because it is highly labor-intensive and twice asexpensive as other classes.Still, some parents object to paying fees - and a few flat-outrefuse to pay.Batavia Unit District 101 has been caught up in a four-yearlegal battle with a family that refused to pay $96 in school fees.The parents, Carl and Yvonne Dinwiddie, who unsuccessfully appealedto the Illinois Supreme Court and are considering a federal suit,believe public schools shouldn't be allowed to charge student fees."It is a way of taxing people without calling it a tax andwithout being accountable for it," Yvonne Dinwiddie said.Daly Lewis of Roosevelt has other objections. Although waiversare available for low-income families, a reliance on fees "creates avery unlevel playing field," she said."It means people who have money have access to greater resourcesat school. Students do not have equal opportunity."In a world of hard choices, other educators say, there may be nobetter alternative."Ask people which they want - higher fees or higher taxes - andsee what they say," Atkins said. "That may be one reason why this ishappening."