Every D304 Student Will Pay $10 More to Register; Fees Hiked for Band, Sports, Too

All students will pay at least $10 more to register for the 2011-2012 school year than they did last year, and some Geneva High School students will pay more for specialized activities, the Board of Education decided Monday.

Board members unanimously agreed to raise the base registration fee by $10 across the board, for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. They also raised the high school graduation fee from $40 to $45 and added $5 to the fees to participate in the high school band program.

Board member Leslie Juby asked why administrators recommended raising the band fee, but not the orchestra program fee. Assistant Superintendent Donna Oberg said the band fee hike is needed to pay for increased cleaning costs for the marching band uniforms. While orchestra students also wear uniforms provided by the school, the black gowns and tuxedos don’t cost as much to clean as the marching band uniforms do, she explained.

Board members debated but chose not to add a cap on high school sports participation fees. High school athletes pay $140 for each sports program in which they participate. A cap would have ensured that each family pays no more than $420 per year, no matter how many teams their children play on.

“We (would) have kids participating in sports for free (if two or three siblings each play on three teams per year.) We’re supporting a select group of people at the expense of other people,” Juby said when the board discuss the proposal two weeks earlier, on Feb. 14.

On Monday, board member Matt Henry asked if the district is making enough new money from hosting varsity games to subsidize sports participation fees.

“We’re making more revenue because we’re in a bigger conference,” he said. “Is there any way to balance the bigger athletic revenues and the student sports fees?” Oberg said that, despite the increase in game revenues, the current student sports fees are just enough to fund the varsity sports programs.

Even with the fee increases, District 304 will still have some of the lowest registration fees of similar school districts in northeast Illinois, including neighboring District 101 in Batavia and District 303 in St. Charles, Oberg said.

This year the district ranked third-lowest in elementary school fees and second-lowest in middle school and high school fees, she noted.

“Our instructional costs have increased astronomically, and we have had no increase in fees in over five years,” Oberg said during a preliminary discussion of the proposed fee hikes two weeks earlier.