Some WLCSC fees to increase

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Some West Lafayette parents were surprised to learn they'll be paying hundreds more for their children's kindergarten classes.

West Lafayette Community School Corporation (WLCSC) Superintendent Rocky Killion said the fee increase is partly due to a cut in funding from the state, and partly due to the referendum that passed in May. He said it only affects out-of-district parents paying tuition transfer fees and parents of children in all-day kindergarten.

Killion said the fees for all-day kindergarten increased by $538 a year and the tuition transfer fees increased by $600.

The WLCSC held a meeting last night for those parents, to explain the increases. Killion said parents have the option to pay the fee all at once or to sign up for a payment plan that disburses their payments over the next 12 months.

The increase was approved at the August 11 school board meeting. Killion said the reason parents weren't informed sooner is because the person who would usually take care of that is no longer working for the district.

One West Lafayette mother said the news is something that will affect her family in the near future.

"My four-year-old is ready, really, academically for kindergarten this year, so we would be interested in a full-day program for him next year," Emily Ohland said. "So we'll be doing something, either Montessori or full-day kindergarten. We'll just have to plan for it in the family budget. We've got a year to think about it and a year to manage costs if that's what we decide to do."

Killion said there were definitely quite a few people who were surprised at last night's meeting, but he said the changes weren't unexpected.

But those fees won't likely be the only back-to-school expense for parents. According to a study by the National Retail Federation, the average family will spend about $606 on back-to-school related merchandise as well this year. Nationwide, that's a more than $20 billion a year industry that includes school supplies, shoes, clothing and electronics.

"Primarily school supplies, and then sometimes some clothes," Ohland said. "It just depends on growth over the summer and when the season thinks it's going to be changing."

Ohland has three kids: a junior in high school, a sixth grader and a 4-year-old. She said at first she was surprised to learn the average family spends $600 on back-to-school supplies.

"Then I stopped and thought about how much I spend, between fees and a few clothes, and school supplies, and probably for my two kids, my sixth grader and my junior, that's right about where we are," she said.

But others, like Amy Focosi, say they're nowhere near the $600 mark. Focosi's oldest child just started kindergarten in the Tippecanoe School Corporation.

"One of the big stores has some awesome sales on back-to-school supplies, with crayons for 25 cents and notebooks for 50 cents, so we really stocked up there. As far as clothes, we really haven't bought anything yet," Focosi said.

Some moms say back-to-school is definitely a reason to pinch their pennies, but they add, it's simply something they consider in their budget each and every year.

"We're an academic family," Ohland said. "My husband works at the university. He's a professor. And so for us, usually he takes his one week of summer time that's not paid in August, when the kids are going back to school. So we really have to plan ahead."

To put those numbers in perspective, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says the average family spends just over $100 on electricity each month. So for the cost of back-to-school, parents could pay their electric bills for half a year.