Will County Gazette

Members of the Beecher 200U school district board of education brought up the topic of their registration fees at their April 12 board meeting. The board admitted that they had been kicking the discussion around for months and had not made any decisions around the proposed increases. 

With the operating budget not looking like it will have any flex or surplus, the board will need to raise some of the fees, though not as much as some feared. The passing of the board's referendum has given them some more room to breathe in the budget. (19:25)

"One other thing that I did mention to the Finance Committee is with the referendum passing...we are not going to suddenly start putting everything back and spending all of the money. I can't stress that enough," Superintendent Jack Gaham said during the meeting.

The district's current materials/registration fees are $40 for the early learning center, $60 for the K-5 elementary schools, $70 for grades 6-8, and up to $200 for the high school. There are also athletic fees of $40 per sport for high schoolers and $25 per sport for junior high. While there were some different suggestions on the board for increasing the fees, doubling them was only in the case of the referendum not passing. Among these, board members suggested adding $40 to all fees across the board, which they proposed splitting into $20 this coming year and $20 next year. 

They will look at fees again each year to see if more increases or changes are warranted. (20:00)

"You as a board will have the authority to...spend any money you want. You're not going to get a lot of recommendations from me to start throwing things back in there and spending lots of money again, this is not going to happen. It's not my mentality until we start seeing a budget in the black. That's the way it is," Gaham added, stating that it would be irresponsible to go back and start spending money again now that the referendum has passed.

These increases still leave the district comparable and even much cheaper than other area schools, including Grant Park and Peotone. The board will have to continue to monitor and change these registration fees as their costs change and as the other area schools change, though the goal is to stay comparable but still manageable for their families. 

This change comes as the district has been struggling with finances the past few years, and will be making some cuts to its budget to try and balance its finances out, even with the referendum passing. (25:00)