Back To School … And It’s Fucking Expensive!
My kids, a 10th grader and a 4th grader, are back to school next Wednesday, August 14, 2019. And it not cheap, factoring in the school enrollment fees, uniform and school supplies costs, we are looking at $400+ for my two children. This is before including athletics and musical instrument fees, which thankfully neither of my kids participate in, as that would have been an extra $100 for my high schooler.
We missed enrollment and will have to do late enrollment, as we did not have the money on hand to pay the $210 to enroll my kids. My mother-in-law gave us $300 to help with the fees, and that is not enough, we still had to use credit cards to make up the shortfall. My application for reduced rate meals and fees was rejected because I got a 3% pay rise last September, which puts us just over the max income allowed.
Furthermore, because of being rejected for reduced rate meals, it will cost us $4.80 each day, so that’s $24 a week, almost $100 each month, which of course, will have to be put on credit cards, pushing us further into debt. Just paying the minimum payment and hoping we get enough in our tax refund to start the new tax year on an even keel. America, land of opportunity my arse, unless you are starting with a financial advantage, the USA is designed to keep you down, not enable you to live “The American Dream”.
Oh, and to add insult to injury, USD259 makes you agree to them setting the debt collection dogs on you if you cannot afford to pay the $60 for elementary schoolers and $150 for high schoolers fees during the enrollment process. Way to go, Wichita School District, kick people when their down.
Additional observations: until the 2017/18 school year, school uniforms were not required, now, we have to spend over $100 on uniforms for my daughter each year, sometimes more than once in that school year if she outgrows it. Then, during the school year, there are dress down days, which costs anywhere between $1 and $2 per dress down day. In my opinion, this is another way to shift the cost of schooling from the school district to the parents, why do I pay my taxes again? heaven forbid it funds schools!
It really pisses me off that the federal government can hand out welfare for the rich, in the form of tax cuts that allow companies like Amazon to pay zero federal taxes, yet, they cannot find money to properly fund schools, doing away with the need for school fundraisers to make up for the funding shortfall.
School supplies, that’s another way the school district has passed costs onto parents. You spend $50 – $60 per child on school supplies and it gets added to communal pool, meaning that you are not buying supplies for your child, you are buying it for the school. They literally tell you in the enrollment packet not to write your childs name on any of the supplies other than their backpack. This is new as well, until about 3 to 4 years ago, your child brought home their supplies at the end of the school year.
Often, during the school year, the school will send home a letter asking for parents to donate more school supplies. We really need to look at the way our schools are funded, teachers and parents should not have to pay to make up the shortfall, former Gov. Sam Brownback has a lot to answer for, block grants will never work. I pay my state taxes every paycheck, why is this not used to fund schools properly? They can afford to give tax handouts to companies like Koch, but not fund schools properly, disgraceful!
/end rant
School fees? What?
What happens if a parent can’t afford to pay school fees? Do children just not get educated or something?
No, there are reduced rate fees for those who qualify, based upon whether they have qualified for free or reduced rate meals. I don’t know what happens if a parent cannot afford the reduced rate fees, i guess they release the debt collection dogs.