Shawnee Mission’s board of education on Monday unanimously approved a fee schedule for the upcoming school year.
The fee schedule outlines a number of both mandatory and optional student-related fees including student identification cards, yearbooks and instructional resources (like textbooks or other materials, whether online or physical).
What’s new: Shawnee Mission’s major change to the fee schedule is the return of an instruction resource fee — previously known as a textbook fee, though the board will formally consider this language change at a later meeting — for elementary students and a $20 increase for secondary students. This brings instructional resource fees to $60 for elementary and $100 for secondary.
Other fee changes are as follows, as outlined in board documents:
- Student parking fees dropped by $10, and will now cost $50.
- The fee for Project Finish decreased from $60 to $40.
- Out-of-district tuition increased from $1,508 to $1,553 due to an increase in Kansas student aid base, which out-of-district tuition is 33% of, according to board documents.
- The fee for tuition F1 Visa foreign exchange students increased from $9,060 to $9,452. This is based on operating fund expenses, which increased, according to board documents.
- An International Baccalaureate diploma will be $357, a change from the 2021-22 $432 cost. A certificate will cost $119 per exam compared to $168 from the 2021-22 school year. Both of these fees are subject to IB Organization determination.
Instructional resource caveat: Families who qualify for free or reduced lunch can waive both instructional resource and student ID fees. Those who qualify for free lunch can get 100% of the instructional resource fee waived, while a family who qualifies for reduced lunch can get 50% of the fees waived.
When the district provides families with the free and reduced lunch application, families will also need to fill out online verification in order to waive the instructional resource fee. This is similar to when qualifying families waive transportation fees, district administration said.
School lunches: Food service meals, among a majority of the other student fees, will remain stagnant for the 2022-23 school year. Still, families didn’t pay for school food service meals in 2021-22 because of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s waiver.
Since Congress did not approve an extension for the waiver, free meals for all students is going away.
Families who do not qualify for free and reduced lunch can expect to pay the following prices for food service meals, as outlined in board documents.
- Breakfast will cost $1.55 for elementary students, $1.65 for secondary students, $2.35 for adults and $2.55 for visitors.
- Lunch will cost $2.85 for elementary students, $3 for secondary students, $3.95 for adults and $4.30 for visitors.
Other fees: Here’s a breakdown of the other student fees as outlined in board documents. These fees remained flat from the 2021-22 approved fee schedule.
- Adult education, $10 per class hour and an additional $15 per hour maximum for culinary arts only.
- E-school fees, $180 a course per session.
- Pre-kindergarten tuition, $3,350 (10 installments of $335).
- Out of district tuition for vocational education students, $12.
- Parent pay bus transportation $160 per semester if paid by July 1, or $185 per semester if paid after July 1. These costs are for 2-way transportation.
- Rental district-owned musical instruments, $30.
- Student activity ticket, $7 (middle school).
- Participation/activity fee, $75 (high school).
- Student ID $5 for a new one or $5 for a replacement across secondary schools.
- Class dues, $1 to $5 (high school)
- Pictures, $7 to $10 for middle school and $7.75 to $25 for high school.
- Yearbook, $12 to $22 for middle school and $50 to $70 for high school.
- Student council, $0 to $10 (high school)
- Spirit/prep clubs, $8 to $10.50 (high school)
- Phone directory, $2 t o$5
- Caps and gowns, $13 to $30
- Childcare, $50 a month (Horizons)
- Summer school academy, $170 per class ($215 for out-of-district)
- Summer school academy for art or foods, $205 per class ($250 out-of-district)
- Summer enrichment, $95 per class
- Summer optional care programs including early, lunch and late are $20 individually or $40 for a combination of two or all three programs per week.
- Parking sticker, $20 (Horizons)
- Activity ticket, $15 (Horizons)
- PSAT testing, $15 to $30 (subject to college board determination)
- Literary magazine, $0 to $10
- Transcript fee, $2 for a former student; first five are free for current students, after five they are $2 per request
- Credit card convenience fee, $3 per request
