Public Ed students cannot be charged fees to participate!

   East Lake High School parents were refunded the money they paid for their children to participate on track and field sports team last month. Parents paid $135 for their children to play on the Otay Ranch High School basketball team and may request refunds. That happened because students may not be required to pay any fees to participate in school activities in California public schools because of the state Constitution.

   Even as a bill to insure a free public education winds its way through the California legislature, students are being charged illegal fees in San Diego County. Ricardo Lara introduced AB165, which clarifies that students do not have to pay school fees. This law from the court case of Hartzell v. Connell will be in the Education Code to protect students.

   Parents have the right to question why are they are being asked to pay a fee. Just before school started, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Bill Kowba called a press conference to announce he would put an end to illegal fees. Yet, parents and students have paid illegal fees this school year. Parents have been required to purchase the school’s physical education uniforms, mandatory school uniforms, pay for International Baccalaureate exams, school planners, uniforms for sports teams, instrument rental fees, calculators, graph paper, clay for ceramics courses, field trips, science supplies, health insurance, graduation caps and gowns, and other fees. Currently, school sites are requiring students to pay for sports physicals from $20 to $60 to try out for sports next year. There are specific exceptions which permit students fees. Sports physicals are not on the list of exceptions. As a parent, I know how it feels to tell my children they cannot participate in a school activity because of the costs. Many parents this year did not know their children could go on field trips even if they could not pay. That includes the senior activities and the 8th grade trips. The schools must sign a form that all children who wanted to go on the field were allowed to go even if they did not have the money to pay for the field trip.

   While the San Diego Unified School District has posted the Fees Guidelines, no written notice has been sent to parents. Families without computers have limited access to the information that their children have the constitutional right to a free public education. Moreover, the Governing Board, the San Diego Unified School Board of Education has failed to properly approve allowable school fees such as transcript fees. No school has the authority to charge fees that the Governing Board has not approved. It has approved fees for bus transportation, food served to students, and the 10 cents fees for copies. Those are legal fees. Yet, if a student graduates from Serra High School, that student will have to pay $5 for a transcript forever in the future while a University City High School student at must pay $2 for the same service.

   The California legislature’s Assembly Education Committee passed AB165 on April 27, 2011 so it keeps moving forward to become Education Code. It was amended to include that School Boards must hold public hearings regarding unlawful students’ fees starting next year. That includes charter schools and alternative schools. Parents will be able to bring a complaint about illegal fees and if the fee is determined to be illegal, all parents will receive a refund with interest. In addition to school districts, boosters, foundations and other parent fundraising groups would be prohibited from imposing fees on students. The complaint can be anonymous. This is important because it is intimidating for parents when the teachers request the money.

   AB165 states:  “A school district, school, or other entity working under the supervision of, or in coordination with, a district or school shall not impose a pupil fee for participation in educational activities.”  Mandatory fundraising by students and mandatory purchase of spirit packs are practices that would have to cease. AB165 is not a new law but will just make it easier for the public to find and read it. Existing law prohibits student fees to include pencils, paper, ASB cards, locks, lockers, sports letters, school uniforms, team uniforms, instrument rental fees, and other fees associated with educational activities.

Sally Smith
San Deigo