Pub. 7 2017-2018 Issue 2

14 BY ROYCE VAN TASSELL L ast week the State Board of Education released an audit 1 examining how well schools and LEAs comply with rules governing school fees. Unfortunately, the audit showed broad areas of non-compliance by the State Board, LEAs and schools. In response to this audit, the State Board is forming a “School Fees Task Force.” Among other things, the State Board expects this task force to: 1. recommend maximum fees a school or LEA can charge a family; 2. identify alternatives in lieu of fee waivers, and a process LEAs can use to identify other appropriate alternatives; 3. propose changes to Board rule governing school fees to eliminate confusion; 4. recommend an effective monitoring system for the State Board to verify LEA and school compliance with Board rule governing school fees; and 5. recommend a training system to make sure schools and LEAs know what is and is not permissible in the school fee world. School fees are a delicate subject, because schools often charge them for curricular activities like labs, field trips, textbooks or AP classes, and extra-curricular activities like choir, debate, cheer or sports. These fees can run into School Fees Audit