Should students pay to play?
Plainfield school board members are scheduled to vote May 28 on a policy that would require District 202 students to pay all their fees in full or be current on fee payment plans to participate in athletics or certain important events.
The proposal is aimed at getting families to make good on unpaid fees. When the proposal was first suggested in January, the district was already looking at more than $172,000 in unpaid athletic fees from the start of the 2012-13 school year, according to Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Angie Smith.
Currently, the district can prohibit students with unpaid fees from graduation, eighth-grade promotion ceremonies and prom.
The proposal would give the district another tool when it comes to collecting delinquent fees, according to a press release issued by District 202.
If board members approve the policy, students with unpaid fees or who are behind on their payment plans will not be able to take part in sports or attend prom or graduation/promotion ceremonies — and they would also be banned from obtaining parking permits or taking the behind-the-wheel portion of driver’s education.
According to the district, officials understand the financial struggles many families face, and has created several options to help families pay their fees. Familys can apply for income and hardship-based fee waivers and reductions and can also enroll in extended payment plans.
Even so, some families simply do not pay their fees.
“We continue to go after those fees and try to get them paid, but the odds are we’re probably not going to recover that money,” Smith said.
“Letting some families not pay their fees is unfair to the district, which faces a projected $1.8 million operating fund deficit despite four years of heavy budget cuts, thanks to the state’s financial problems,” the district’s press release said.
“This isn’t intended to punish our students or families but at some point we have to be responsible to the entire district and make sure we have enough money to serve all of our students and families,” Smith added.
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