Board holds public hearing on school fees; Chromebook damage limit proposed at $250, driver-ed fee recommended to rise

The Morgan County School District held a public hearing on proposed revisions to the district's school-fee schedules that district staff said were driven by recent legislative changes and court rulings about fee transparency.

Business administrator Scott McMillan told the board the district could no longer collect a general high-school registration fee and must disclose more detailed spending plans for participation fees. "Because we're no longer allowed to collect a fee in this year and save it to spend in a future year, we're kind of at zero base," McMillan said, describing a shift to team-by-team spending plans that include up to two fundraisers and an explicit ceiling for each activity.

McMillan highlighted two concrete changes parents should expect: a proposed increase in the maximum Chromebook damage charge to $250 to approximate replacement cost for a device "completely destroyed," and a staff recommendation to raise the combined class-and-driving driver-education fee from $280 to $324 to break even on program costs. He said some line-item fee increases reflect consolidation of previously separate small charges into a single participation fee "so as a parent, you have one number to look at."

Board members asked whether Chromebook fines and other fines should be listed in middle-school schedules and whether excess fee carryover should be refunded to students. McMillan said refunds may be possible after the district learns its first-year balances and that fee waivers remain available for eligible students. The board directed staff to meet with high-school coaches in coming weeks for final refinements and scheduled a second public hearing on the fee schedule next month.

The public-hearing presentation and discussion did not enact new fees; the board will consider final adoption after the follow-up hearing.