ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) - Parents of students in the Ashwaubenon School District will have to open up their wallets more starting this fall.
The district will implement a textbook-supply fee for all students in the upcoming 2015-16 school year.
"We've reached a sort of tipping point in terms of starting to look at more and more things in terms of quality, and you need to provide textbooks and supplies for kids," said Ashwaubenon School District Superintendent Brian Hanes.
Hanes says the change is due to continued state funding cuts. This year, Hanes says they will lose about $360,000 in funding from Madison.
"We're just real careful not to directly affect students, and try to do everything we can not to impact students, but we're in tough budget times," said Hanes.
According to a letter from Friday April 17, "The Board of Education has approved textbook/supply fee amounts for the 2015-16 school of $50 for high school students, $40 for middle school students and $30 for elementary students (Grades 4K-5).
Families who apply and qualify for Free or Reduced lunch are able to request reduced textbook/supply fees. Parents of reduced lunch students can request reduced textbook/supply fees of $25, $20 and $15, respectively.
Parents of free lunch students can request to be exempt from the textbook/supply fee. Such requests should be made, in writing, to the student’s school office."
Green Bay Area Public School District and Howard-Suamico School District officials confirm that they've had these kinds of fees in place for several years.
You can read the letter by clicking on the PDF link under the photo above.