Student activity fees to increase in district

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Students who are planning on participating in activities this fall in Alexandria School District 206 will see an increase in fees.

School board members approved the jump in fees at their regular board meeting Monday night.

Superintendent Terry Quist noted the last time these fees saw an increase was during the 2005-2006 school year.

“We are still on the low end for what we charge,” said Quist at the Monday night meeting. “There is one [school district] lower than we are in our conference.”

The change in fees, noted Quist, makes School District 206 more in line or comparable with other schools in the Central Lakes Conference.

Fee increases ranged from $5 to $15.

Activity fees are broken down into four tiers, which are:

•Tier 1 would include grade 9 play, fall play, spring musical, math team, carolers and Destination Imagination. Fees for Tier 1 activities are now $45 – an increase of $15 from last year’s fee of $30.

•Tier 2 includes all 7th and 8th grade athletics. Fees changed from $40 per activity to $45 per activity – a $5 increase.

•Tier 3 would include such activities as jazz band, speech, Rainbow Strings, one-act play and Knowledge Bowl. Fees for Tier 3 activities jumped from $45 to $60 per activity – a $15 increase.

•Tier 4 activities include 9th through 12th grade athletics and marching band. Fees changed from $70 per activity to $80 per activity – a $10 increase.

In addition, there was an increase in the cost of any new program or sport for the first two years. The fee went from $85 to $100 – an increase of $15.

Admission prices to attend music events saw an increase as well – adult admission is now $6 instead of $5 and student admission is now $3 instead of $2.

However, students can buy a 10-event punch card for $20, which would keep the fee at $2 per event. Adults can purchase a 10-event punch card for $45, which brings the price to $4.50 per event.

In other action

Donations and grants provided to School District 206 must be approved by the school board. At Monday night’s meeting, the board accepted and approved the following:

•The Eagles Club of Alexandria donated $1,125 to the girls hockey program.

•3M awarded a Lego Education Structures and eLab Renewable Energy grant of $3,200 to Community Education youth enrichment program.

•United Way of Douglas and Pope Counties awarded a $15,000 grant to the Alexandria Family School for the 2009-2010 school.

•United Way of Douglas and Pope Counties awarded a $16,000 grant to the Community Education mentoring programs for the 2009-2010 school year.

•The Carlos Lions Club donated $4,440 to Carlos Elementary School, which was designated for the purchase of Smartboards at the Carlos School.

School board members also approved the revised industrial technology curriculum and Community Education’s five-year strategic plan.

Deb Metz, Keith Stockman and Troy Miller from DLR Group and Paul Ringdahl from Ringdahl Architects updated school board members and administrators on Woodland Elementary School, which is the new elementary school that will open this fall.

The new school is essentially completed and will be ready to be moved into starting next week.

The next regular board meeting, which is set for Monday, July 20 at 7 p.m., will take place at Woodland Elementary School in the district’s new offices.

In addition, the district is planning a community open house at the new school for Tuesday, August 25 from 4 to 8 p.m. More details will be available at a later date.

Tags: school district 206, news, local