Some Student Fees to Increase in St. Charles for 2013-14

Fees for musical instruments will more than double in the fall, driver education fees will jump by $50 and residents choosing to enroll their children in all-day kindergarten will see their costs drop after recent changes made by the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Board of Education.

The musical instrument fees are changing at elementary, middle and high school levels and reflect that the district has been subsidizing those fees from some time, school officials have said. The once standard $50 flat fee will increase to $125 at the high schools, $115 at the middle schools and $100 at the elementary schools.

While the increase is significant, district officials have pointed out that it still is a good deal for parents. Also, while most District 303 parents rent or lease the instruments from local music stores for $23 to $59 per month, depending on the instrument. But those stores to do not carry larger instruments such as tubas or cellos, for example.

The district has been charging just $50 for those instruments, but it has not been enough to cover the costs of maintaining, cleaning and replacing the equipment at the end of the school year, officials have said.

The fee increase for driver’s education is an ongoing annual increase begun in 2010-11, when District 303 received a state waiver allowing it raise the fee to as much as $400. The fee was $250 in 2011-12 and $300 this school year. For 2013-14, the fee rises to $350 and is expected to increase to $400 in the following year.

Finally, the tuition charged for all-day kindergarten will drop at three levels.

Full annual tuition this year was $2,205, $1,305 for children who qualify under National School Lunch Program guidelines for reduced-cost lunches, and $630 for those qualifying for free lunches under that program.

In 2013-14, the annual tuition will drop to $2,025, $900 and $225, respectively.

District officials said the all-day kindergarten program has been successful, financially, and the reduction is not expected to affect the program. It’s also possible that the state might mandate an all-day kindergarten program statewide, which would bring an end to the annual tuition fees.

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