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Parents asked to pay up for missed class
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | *crickets chirp* Mar 09, 2007 08:18am |
| Logged |
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[Older]
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Friday, March 9, 2007 04:20:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Tired of parents pulling their kids out of school for a ski trip or a visit to Disneyland, the local school system is billing them for the missed class time at $36.13 per day.
That is how much the Scotts Valley district calculates it loses under a state formula that doles out school funding according to daily attendance.
In truth, the bills are merely a request; no one is actually required to pay.
But some parents in the well-to-do community 30 miles south of Silicon Valley are paying up to ease their guilty consciences. Others are refusing, saying the request is offensive in a state where nearly half the annual budget — $66 billion — already is devoted to education.
"I tossed it. It's a public school. I'm not going to be told to pay when I have my kids out," said Helene Handy, who received the explanatory letter three times, once for each of her children. "We've got to have a better way to pay for our schools."
School officials said the purpose is twofold — to discourage parents from aiding and abetting hooky, and to recoup money lost to absences.
The 2,800-student district — which is populated with a large number of high-tech specialists and managers and had a median household income in 2000 of more than $72,000 — sent a letter of explanation in January to parents. It was titled "If You Play, Please Pay."
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