As we start the school year, here is the Parents Coalition annual post of fees allegedly approved by the Board of Education for high school students this coming year.
We've made this list an almost annual tradition, and we see once again, that arts and music take the biggest hit. I am curious about whether these fees have any real meaning - do schools actually dry clean music clothes? Both of my kids played in the concert bands at two high schools and the jazz band at one school. I recall they wore their own clothes - so why do their schools (both schools) have dry cleaning fees?
Once again, MCPS amazes me. This year, MCPS even has a site for you to pay these fees ONLINE.
Thanks for being such a good helper, MCPS. Convenience comes with a small service charge - wonder who gets that money. You can click here to get to that site.
Some schools are great - no fees whatsoever. But other schools? Look at Edison. Funny, how their nail technology fee really is for a textbook for the course. And Churchill - the school that thinks the rules don't apply? You will find several links to convenience purchases of textbooks available.
The middle school list will be coming shortly - I can't wait to see what surprises are on that list.
But remember the words from our former first lady, Nancy Reagan. JUST SAY NO.
Students in Montgomery County are entitled to a free public education. If you don't pay, have no fear, your child will still get their diploma (and yes, class dues and graduation fees are also illegal).
Happy back to school.
Is a teacher or administrator giving your child a hard time about fees? Hand them a copy of the Parents' Coalition Guide to Fees for Textbooks and Materials of Instruction and the letter from the Maryland Attorney General that reiterates that curricular fees are illegal.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19245995/Guide-to-Public-School-Fees
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2009/02/if-it-is-curriculum-related-school.html
This year’s Churchill fee for Show Choir is listed as $10. Have things really changed since the earlier reports on this Blog (parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2009/07/1000-chorus-class-lives.html#comment-form)? Could it be that the large fees still are still being charged at Churchill and other high schools but routed to avoid scrutiny? At a 2012 BOE Policy Committee meeting suspicions were raised about “organizations (such as booster clubs) collecting [curricular] fees for the schools.” (www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/POLdocs/2012/2012-0918/Minutes.pdf)
ReplyDeleteWe know the above list is bogus. Every year we hear from parents that are paying illegal curricular fees over and above what is posted on that list.
DeleteIn fact, right now you can go to the individual schools and find class fees that are not on this list.
Once an institution permits extortion, the sky's the limit. MCPS runs an illegal culture and administrators and teachers get away with as much as possible.
Is it simply extortion, or is it also money laundering?
DeleteYou are correct. It is also money laundering because these fees do not show up in the MCPS Operating Budget! There is no accounting for these fees in any public document.
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