Board reviews school-fee schedule options; final approval deferred to March
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Summary
The board discussed proposed school-fee schedules tied to state legislation and reviewed provisions on extracurricular fees, supply fees for art classes, instrument rentals and school clothing; the board will not finalize fees until its second March meeting.
The Provo City School District Board discussed proposed school-fee schedules on Feb. 20 and reviewed two sets of fee tables mapped to either recently passed state law and to a pending legislative proposal. Business Administrator Devin Daley told the board the schedules show what fees would look like under the new legislation if it passes and what would remain if only last year’s law is applied.
Daley said the primary aim of both approaches is to limit required fees and preserve options for fee waivers so students can participate without paying. He said the district removed a general required fee that previously appeared at elementary and secondary levels and that fundraising had been treated as a fee in prior reports but is no longer reported as a fee under last year’s law.
Board members asked how maximums are set for some travel and program fees. Daley said maximums differ by program and school based on planned activities and travel distances; the maximum is an upper cap that would only be charged if a school chooses to run that activity or travel. Board member Melanie Hall pressed for more detail on specific programs and costs; staff added a spreadsheet with spend plans to the meeting materials and said they would post the material on the district website in coming days.
The board did not vote on the fee schedules; the superintendent said the item will return for approval at the board’s second meeting in March to allow board members time to ask specific questions of coaches and teachers and for the public to review the posted spreadsheets.
