Fee fight brewing in Provo

PROVO — Parents are pressuring Provo School District chiefs to design a policy governing school fees that will eliminate the divide between "rich" schools and "poor" schools.

Proposals for a policy will be discussed by the city's Board of Education at a meeting today.

Boundary changes that went into effect at the beginning of the school year have some parents concerned that a perceived rich-poor divide, while appearing to be shrinking, may actually prove to have remained the same or widened once final data is collected at the end of October.

And as the board began to debate proposed policies last year, worries surfaced that the two high schools — Provo and Timpview — and two middle schools — Centennial and Dixon — could be pitted against each other in a competition for resources.

The policy being developed will attempt to "equalize" school budgets by compensating schools with higher percentages of students who receive fee waivers. Waivers are given to students who qualify under income guidelines.

State administrative law requires districts to balance inequities among schools caused by fee waivers, said Carol Lear, an attorney for the Utah State Office of Education.

Despite the state law, the current fee waiver policy in Provo District isn't clear, said Sandy Packard, Provo District's school board vice president.

If a $10 workbook is needed for biology class, administrators at some schools will collect enough money to purchase it for students who cannot afford it.

However, if half of a school's students receive fee waivers, such purchases will be expensive. Packard wonders whether some schools forgo certain programs and materials because of lack of funds.

"Exactly how that money tracks itself out is not very clear, still," Packard said.

Packard has rejected two policies that have been drafted so far. She wants a policy to read that the compensation comes from the district's coffers, and the compensation is automatic after the numbers of fee waivers are determined.

"One of my issues was the policy they came up with would require the principals of the poorer schools (to) apply to the district to get the fee-waiver funds," she said. "It's not really popular with the school that has to give up the money. A principal may be motivated not to request it. My feeling is the students are entitled to it."