Free and reduced lunch has some changes here.

[vicky122]

I work at a high school in Joliet,Il. as a cook. I also do the lunch forms during registration.Before it was if you was free or reduced you didn't have to pay book fees. Now it is been changed to people who get reduced price for lunch will have to pay for the books. Man is it going to be a mess. So it must be a state change I don't think the school can do that.I have not recieved the income guidlines yet so don't know what changes are there.

[April78945]

aww that's kind of sucky. If you can't afford lunch how are you supposed to afford books? Makes no sense to me. :(
Why aren't books included anyway? Isn't that what people pay taxxes for??

[vicky122]

You are right about that and books are about 200.00 per student and 25.00 for activity sticker. Not here you have to pay so yes it does suck.

[kmtsn]

Here in Iowa where my 2 kids go we do not have book fees today I went and signed them up DD is going in 7th grade her yearbook was 20.00 put 20.00 in lunch account and DS is going in 5th grade I bought his yearbook for 15 and 20 in lunch account so cost me 75.00 thats it we have not paid book fees in years

[PrincessArky]

what are book fees? does that mean your kids get to keep the books???

[kmtsn]

No we did not get to keep the books just paid for the kids to use them and most of them are old and some outdated so at times I wish we still had book fees and MAYBE the school could update the books

[PrincessArky]

No we did not get to keep the books just paid for the kids to use them and most of them are old and some outdated so at times I wish we still had book fees and MAYBE the school could update the books

OMG that is terrible......guess thats why our school does so many darn annoying fund raisers I could never shell out $200 a yr for books for each kid

[joey74]

I live in central Illinois and here book rental is $55 for K-6 grade and $70 for 7-12 (plus p.e. clothes and activity fees). When I registered my 3rd grader today I ended up spending $90 after all the extra fee's and starting lunch accounts.
I do believe in order to recieve reduce/no fee's for lunch or books you cannot make more than $1,300 every two weeks for a three person family. (aprox)

[Mini]

You have to pay for books? I never did although we had fees for everything else...activity fee, computer fee, science fee, yearbook, this fee that fee it was horrible.

We ALL know where our tax dollars go..not to the schools but in pockets....

[vicky122]

I live in central Illinois and here book rental is $55 for K-6 grade and $70 for 7-12 (plus p.e. clothes and activity fees). When I registered my 3rd grader today I ended up spending $90 after all the extra fee's and starting lunch accounts.
I do believe in order to recieve reduce/no fee's for lunch or books you cannot make more than $1,300 every two weeks for a three person family. (aprox)

I do the lunch applications so I will find out the income guidlines Thursday. So you are in Il. and with reduce lunch you don't have to pay for books? We never did here it is something new this year. I thought is was the state doing it but if you guys don't for reduced lunch then it must be our school doing it.
Nope the kids don't get to keep the books. Plus they have an activity fee 25.00 rent gym clothes and yes they have to pay for a year book. Oh and if they want to drive and park on the school lots it is 100.00 a school year.

[magenta]

Wow. I have never heard of a book fee. If our kids' books are lost or destroyed we have to pay for them at the end of the year.

The kids do a fundraiser in mid year and half the money of what you sell goes to your yearbook. If you sell enough it is free. Last year they sold jar candles, they were $5 and $2.50 of each candle when to your yearbook. Yearbooks were $20 and that included a video yearbook.

We do fundraising for sports too, that helps pay for their uniforms, equipment, etc.

[VenuStar]

We only pay if a book is lost or messed up, and the only other fees are IF you want a yearbook, IF you want to go on the class trip. No gym fees, no parking fees, no activity or computer fees. Meals are cheap: breakfast .55, lunch .85 per day. Reduced meals are .30 for breakfast and .40 for lunch. Adults are now $3. They went from $2 to $3 this year...but still a good deal b/c they dont skimp on the servings. I love our little school system

[Beso]

Last year it was 157. for 5th grade plus 10 for bus service
and 130 for 4th plus the bus.

I am afraid to see what it is this year.

Oh and last year the kids both had to get the SCHOOL planner. $8 a piece, and a recorder (like a flute ) for music for 8 per child. THey used the thing like twice.

Field trips have gone from a couple of dollars to 10-28 per child. Its unreal.

[Renrut]

No book fees here thank goodness!! My son gets free lunch cause he gets SSI so he automatically qualifies for it for whatever reason. I swear he is a bottomless pit though cause what they feed him is never enough-ughhh

[joey74]

I do the lunch applications so I will find out the income guidlines Thursday. So you are in Il. and with reduce lunch you don't have to pay for books? We never did here it is something new this year. I thought is was the state doing it but if you guys don't for reduced lunch then it must be our school doing it.
Nope the kids don't get to keep the books. Plus they have an activity fee 25.00 rent gym clothes and yes they have to pay for a year book. Oh and if they want to drive and park on the school lots it is 100.00 a school year.

I think each district is different. I always thought our district was a little better off financially -- but I guess not, considering other states don't have to pay book rental at all.
Oh, and just to clarifiy ... reduced lunches = reduced book rental fee / free lunches = no fee's

[ilikefree]

Our book fees are for workbooks, the paper to copy things for worksheets, lab fees, etc. The way our school does it is if you get free lunches, your book fees are free and if you get reduced lunches, you pay half of the book fee. If you lose or destroy a text book, of course you'll pay for it, but we don't pay to use them.

[vicky122]

Here it has always been reduced lunch or free lunch your books and drivers ed was free. This year they changed it to just free lunch get them things for free and reduce kids pay full price for the books. Unless they are going to give reduced books they didn't say that in the meeting.
As far as ss it is income. Example we had a family and all the kids were getting it. So when you added all that income up her family was over the income limit and they had to pay for reduced lunch.
Food stamps you don't need income but each child has to have a number. Some kids in one family doesn't get food stamps for what ever reason.
Foster kids are free as long as they don't have income over the limit. They never do but it is on the application we have to check the box for no income.
Just having a medical card doesn't get you free lunch.
All the codes are on the cards telling us if they have income or not. So when we see the medical it tells us if it is medical only income with stamps.
Now public aid gives them a direct certification letter which is nice they don't fill out a application just hand it in.

[jedmatters]

Free and Reduced lunches are a federal program. The program has nothing to do with the fees schools charge for anything else.
Two completely diferent programs are in the works.
Plus, the free/reduced lunch program information is not to be shared with anyone. No one needs access to that information except for the lunch people. It is not open records, it is a confidential program.

If you have book fees, talk to the school about a payment plan.

[roserob]

If you think book prices are bad now, wait until your kids go to college. I just spend $800 and only bought the mandatory books and not the recommended ones.

[vicky122]

Free and Reduced lunches are a federal program. The program has nothing to do with the fees schools charge for anything else.
Two completely different programs are in the works.
Plus, the free/reduced lunch program information is not to be shared with anyone. No one needs access to that information except for the lunch people. It is not open records, it is a confidential program.

If you have book fees, talk to the school about a payment plan.

You are right nobody has access to who is free or not. I have been doing this for nine years. And let me tell you the kids get mad when they have to pay. And the parents will reapply when they find out they have to pay for lunch. And one reason is they don't want to pay for the book fees. Yes you can get your books without paying for them but when it is time to graduate you can't until all fees are paid. Or you can make payments.
As far as saying how they determine who can receive it that is not confidential telling who is receiving it is.

[Mom2-3boys]

I think fees for books that aren't being kept by the student are ridiculous! What is the school doing with the $? and parking fees? jeezus I thought stuff they charge for here was crazy! There is no way that I could afford to pay for $200 in books fees for 3 kids plus $160 for bus service for 3 kids plus another $160/month for lunches. Then there's the $40 for two kids to buy gym unis. Plus more $ to buy them seperate shoes to have in their gym locker to wear twice a week. $5/per child for a student planner. Then there's the $ here and there for this that and the other that FACS, art and industrial tech want. The first couple months of school really hurt the pocketbook!!


There are school districts here in South Dakota that are suing the state because they feel the state is holding out on funding.....I don't know, it doesn't really make sense to me because if they don't use the funding they lose it.......unless the state is sticking it elsewhere.

[magenta]

I was surprised with the book fees. Now I am surprised again about busing fees and paying for planners? Where are the taxes going? Our school taxes are $22.00 a year and we do not pay for anything like that.

They are even in the process of building a new Middle School and taxes have not gone up. The elementary schools ask to send a box of tissues in the beginning of the year if you can. I have never paid more than $5 for a field trip except when they went to DC. And that was a 2 night trip they paid for meals, hotel rooms, busing, etc. and it was $150. But they started taking payments at the beginning of the year and went at the end of May. There was also fundraising your child could do and the money went into the students individual accounts for them only. If you had over the amount needed after fundraising they gave your kid's money to them as they were boarding the bus for spending money.

We must be very lucky. I didn't even realize that people were paying for all of these things. We are talking about public school right?

[vicky122]

Yes we are talking about public schools magenta. I think they get thier first planner free. Their id is free unless they lose it then it is 10 to replace each time. I don't think they pay for bussing here.

[magenta]

Thanks, I guess I am out of the loop that so many schools have to pay for things that I have been taking it for granted.

[Renrut]

Wow, our planners are 12.00 and 5.00 for the school ID's. I don't remember having all this when I was in school.

[LuvBigRip]

I just went this morning and afternoon (two different sessions for two kids at the same school) and here is a run down of my fee's.

School Pictures (yes, taken today) $26.00 each = $52.00
Two year books (payment due today, or it goes up $7 per book) = $90.00
Two Activity cards $25.00 each = $50.00
Student ID $4.00 each = $8.00
My 11th grade DD's book and lab Fee's = $71.50
My 9th grade DS's book and lab fees = $92.00
My 11th grade DD's Advanced Choir fee's for trips $125.00 (does not include outfit)
My 9th grade DS's wrestling fee's $85.00 (does not include uniform)

Total to enroll two kids in their "free" public education. = $573.50

Next week I have the 9 year old and his fee's.

[Thamlet]

I just went this morning and afternoon (two different sessions for two kids at the same school) and here is a run down of my fee's.

School Pictures (yes, taken today) $26.00 each = $52.00
Two year books (payment due today, or it goes up $7 per book) = $90.00
Two Activity cards $25.00 each = $50.00
Student ID $4.00 each = $8.00
My 11th grade DD's book and lab Fee's = $71.50
My 9th grade DS's book and lab fees = $92.00
My 11th grade DD's Advanced Choir fee's for trips $125.00 (does not include outfit)
My 9th grade DS's wrestling fee's $85.00 (does not include uniform)

Total to enroll two kids in their "free" public education. = $573.50

Next week I have the 9 year old and his fee's.


:stunned

[Renrut]

I just went this morning and afternoon (two different sessions for two kids at the same school) and here is a run down of my fee's.

School Pictures (yes, taken today) $26.00 each = $52.00
Two year books (payment due today, or it goes up $7 per book) = $90.00
Two Activity cards $25.00 each = $50.00
Student ID $4.00 each = $8.00
My 11th grade DD's book and lab Fee's = $71.50
My 9th grade DS's book and lab fees = $92.00
My 11th grade DD's Advanced Choir fee's for trips $125.00 (does not include outfit)
My 9th grade DS's wrestling fee's $85.00 (does not include uniform)

Total to enroll two kids in their "free" public education. = $573.50

Next week I have the 9 year old and his fee's.

Guess I will just shut up now about our prices-ughhh

[PrincessArky]

I just went this morning and afternoon (two different sessions for two kids at the same school) and here is a run down of my fee's.

School Pictures (yes, taken today) $26.00 each = $52.00
Two year books (payment due today, or it goes up $7 per book) = $90.00
Two Activity cards $25.00 each = $50.00
Student ID $4.00 each = $8.00
My 11th grade DD's book and lab Fee's = $71.50
My 9th grade DS's book and lab fees = $92.00
My 11th grade DD's Advanced Choir fee's for trips $125.00 (does not include outfit)
My 9th grade DS's wrestling fee's $85.00 (does not include uniform)

Total to enroll two kids in their "free" public education. = $573.50

Next week I have the 9 year old and his fee's.
OMG


so do you have to pay the money for the pics to be in the yearbook? If not I would never pay that for those crappy photos they take at schools not that it would have saved ya much

and what the heck is an activity card???

I guess it is times like this my kids are in a small school cause I couldnt afford to be in a bigger one

[vicky122]

OMG


so do you have to pay the money for the pics to be in the yearbook? If not I would never pay that for those crappy photos they take at schools not that it would have saved ya much

and what the heck is an activity card???

I guess it is times like this my kids are in a small school cause I couldnt afford to be in a bigger one

Here the activity card gets you into games when they play. Or on the bus for after school activities. It is 25.00 and you have to get it no matter if you want it or not.

[freeplease]

$70 for broken down books, $20 for a parking fee-so they can buy a golf cart for the security guard to drive around the lot. (I hope it's electric) $2 for lunch. Assorted $5-10 fees for clubs, plus $20 for each t shirt.

I'm so happy she's a senior this year. However, next year, we have college. What does a healthy kidney go for these days? lol

[jedmatters]

I'm so happy she's a senior this year. However, next year, we have college. What does a healthy kidney go for these days? lol


You forgot: $100 for graduation announcements, $75 for the cap and gown, $12 for the tassel, $200 (+) for senior portraits, senior trip upwards of $250, prom (A BUNCH), and all the college application fees ($20 to $150 a piece), college entrance exams ($45 to $70 each), if she had AP classes: $45 a test ....

just did the senior year....
2 dual credit classes: $234 a piece, 6 AP tests: $270, college application fees totaled $145, SAt and ACT paid by the school for all AP students!!!

Now: travel to Yale, Dorm furniture, food, phone, his own laptop (required), spending money, .... If it was not for the scholarship... his college fees would be over $50,000 this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LuvBigRip]

OMG


so do you have to pay the money for the pics to be in the yearbook? If not I would never pay that for those crappy photos they take at schools not that it would have saved ya much

and what the heck is an activity card???

I guess it is times like this my kids are in a small school cause I couldnt afford to be in a bigger one

Yeah, the pictures they took this morning go into the yearbook. They are actually the best photographers for school pics I have ever dealt with. They do really great shots, you can choose from 4 poses and 5 backgrounds.

[dcut4]

$65 book rental fee for each kid here...gotta love living in Illinois.

My oldest is going to a university lab school. It is a public high school but they get no state funds so we have to buy all books.....$350 so far. a scientific calculator at $120 and the fees for school..$575. We have 5 years of this to look forward to. yippy!

[stresseater]

I love podunk Oklahoma. We have to get the normal paper,pencil,notebook type stuff ourselves(the Indian program pick this up for my kids) If your kid is in band you buy or rent an instrument. If your kid is in sports you pay for the uniform which you get to keep. If I remember right from when DD#1 was in HS there is no parking permit or id cards. We are so podunk the Jr.s and Sr.s get to leave campus for lunch(but are not allowed to drive). No uniforms to buy, no book fees and no activity cards. I love podunk Oklahoma, oh did I say that already? I can't believe those other things are require4d for a free education.

[freeplease]

You forgot: $100 for graduation announcements, $75 for the cap and gown, $12 for the tassel, $200 (+) for senior portraits, senior trip upwards of $250, prom (A BUNCH), and all the college application fees ($20 to $150 a piece), college entrance exams ($45 to $70 each), if she had AP classes: $45 a test ....

just did the senior year....
2 dual credit classes: $234 a piece, 6 AP tests: $270, college application fees totaled $145, SAt and ACT paid by the school for all AP students!!!

Now: travel to Yale, Dorm furniture, food, phone, his own laptop (required), spending money, .... If it was not for the scholarship... his college fees would be over $50,000 this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We paid over $700 for her graduation pics. Test fees were last year, so that's done. Did a marathon for cheaper prom tickets, so that helps. But I know, it's insane. And the cap and gown thing really gets me. Same cap & gown, every year. And they all have to buy one. Who has a brother in law in the cap & gown business? You just KNOW somebody has a relative making money off of it...

[PrincessArky]

Here the activity card gets you into games when they play. Or on the bus for after school activities. It is 25.00 and you have to get it no matter if you want it or not.

OMG thats terrible......guess it helps us being a small school if they kids have to go somewhere everyone knows them by name......actually even on the campus in the next town know Libby too but thats another story LOL


You forgot: $100 for graduation announcements, $75 for the cap and gown, $12 for the tassel, $200 (+) for senior portraits, senior trip upwards of $250,


wow other than sr trip that what I paid when I was a sr.....18 yrs ago LOL we had fund raisers that paid for our sr trip (nope not as great as some of the larger school trips) and at the end we had enough money so that each of us got $10 to spend toward our last meal of the trip :)



Yeah, the pictures they took this morning go into the yearbook. They are actually the best photographers for school pics I have ever dealt with. They do really great shots, you can choose from 4 poses and 5 backgrounds.

oh wow wish I could say that our guy sux big time.........he was the one doing them when I was in school and he still hasn't gotten any better......sometimes I wish I had the money to get into it and put him out of biz

[LuvBigRip]

oh wow wish I could say that our guy sux big time.........he was the one doing them when I was in school and he still hasn't gotten any better......sometimes I wish I had the money to get into it and put him out of biz

Ours is a professional studio called LifeTouch. They are financial rapists, but they do good work. They do free re-shots if you do not like them. They do retouching (if you child is going through a bad acne outbreak), they are pretty darn good.

We paid $26 for an 8x10, two 5x7 and 8 wallets.

[PrincessArky]

Ours is a professional studio called LifeTouch. They are financial rapists, but they do good work. They do free re-shots if you do not like them. They do retouching (if you child is going through a bad acne outbreak), they are pretty darn good.

We paid $26 for an 8x10, two 5x7 and 8 wallets.

thats about what our crappy guy charges but we also get those oh so useful mini photos lol

[dcut4]

I found the income guidelines for free lunch. This is the Federal guidelines.


FREE LUNCH
household size, annual income , monthly , weekly

2 , 18200 , 1517 , 350
3 , 22880 , 1907 , 440
4 , 27560 , 2297 , 530
5 , 32240 , 2687 , 620
6 , 36920 , 3077 , 710
7 , 41600 , 3467 , 800
8 , 46280 , 3857 , 890
for each additional member add 4680 a year or 90 a week

REDUCED LUNCH

2 , 25900 , 2159 , 499
3 , 32560 , 2714 , 627
4 , 39220 , 3269, 755
5 , 45880 , 3824, 883
6 , 52540, 4379, 1011
7 , 59200 , 4934, 1139
8 , 65860, 5489 , 1267
for each additional member add 6660 a year or 129 a week

also all foster children get free lunch regardless of foster family income.

[jedmatters]

Cap and gown fees get me: The students ahve worked for graduation, only to have to PAY for it.
Plus the tassel...
My son had to pay for his honor society collar, his cords for awards and his Valedictorian collar! I thought the school was never going to quit asking for money.

Oh, the senior "trip" was just for one day: the prude of a super would not allow seniors and teachers to go on any over-night trips to celebrate! So, it was 250 for a chartered bus, food and admissiopn to Six Flags. A whole 22 hours

__________________________________________________
BACK TO OP:
the books fees are school fees, not federal fees: so the lunch guidelines and applications have NOTHING to do with the fees, and can not be used to figure out who pays and who doe snot.
I am sure the school found out they were in violation of the federal rules, and put a stop to the correlation.

[cab1277]

We have never had to pay book fees. I think lunches were $1.20. Yearbooks were $20 each if we wanted them. I think the only things I paid for were field trips and one set of pictures for each. Those were kind of expensive. My kids got to keep several of their books. Of course, they were in the first and third grade so those books were the write-in (workbook) kind anyway.

[PrincessArky]

My son had to pay for his honor society collar, his cords for awards and his Valedictorian collar! I thought the school was never going to quit asking for money.


I had to pay for my honor cords and things in college too :( thankfully they provided us with gowns for a small rental fee of something like $10

[kidzpca]

Pictures, yearbook supplies they all add up. My son lost two books last year and had to pay $22 for them one of them was a novel. No book fees except in the HS if you want to write in the workbooks. Nothing like dot band trip last year to Carnegie Hall that was $1200+ money for food and souveniers, that was in addition to a marching band fee of $250 and a concert band fee of $35. You don't pay the fees you don't walk at graduation. There is a small parking fee to get the parking pass($10)

[vicky122]

I found the income guidelines for free lunch. This is the Federal guidelines.


FREE LUNCH
household size, annual income , monthly , weekly

2 , 18200 , 1517 , 350
3 , 22880 , 1907 , 440
4 , 27560 , 2297 , 530
5 , 32240 , 2687 , 620
6 , 36920 , 3077 , 710
7 , 41600 , 3467 , 800
8 , 46280 , 3857 , 890
for each additional member add 4680 a year or 90 a week

REDUCED LUNCH

2 , 25900 , 2159 , 499
3 , 32560 , 2714 , 627
4 , 39220 , 3269, 755
5 , 45880 , 3824, 883
6 , 52540, 4379, 1011
7 , 59200 , 4934, 1139
8 , 65860, 5489 , 1267
for each additional member add 6660 a year or 129 a week

also all foster children get free lunch regardless of foster family income.

Mine is in the car. but it is a guidline. We give a guidline for rduce but we don't for free.A foster child id free as long as they don't have an income.They are a family of 1 if they work they would have to put down the income if it is over then yes they would have to pay. But must people put 0 for them.

[vicky122]

Cap and gown fees get me: The students ahve worked for graduation, only to have to PAY for it.
Plus the tassel...
My son had to pay for his honor society collar, his cords for awards and his Valedictorian collar! I thought the school was never going to quit asking for money.

Oh, the senior "trip" was just for one day: the prude of a super would not allow seniors and teachers to go on any over-night trips to celebrate! So, it was 250 for a chartered bus, food and admissiopn to Six Flags. A whole 22 hours

__________________________________________________
BACK TO OP:
the books fees are school fees, not federal fees: so the lunch guidelines and applications have NOTHING to do with the fees, and can not be used to figure out who pays and who doe snot.
I am sure the school found out they were in violation of the federal rules, and put a stop to the correlation.

They school was given free books to the kids that had reduced lunch. But they stopped that this year. Now only the kids that get free lunch will get free books. How would they be in violation? They were helping the kids then with reduce lunch. I thought they had to give the kids free lunch if they had a reduced lunch because in all the years I have been there that is they way it was.
But let me tell you we never had so many people change their application they either forgot to add a person or they made a mistake on the income lol.They don't have to show proof of income. If the state comes in the pull so many applications and run a check.

[jedmatters]

It is a violation. The federal application has NOTHING to do with the book fees. The application should never be seen by anyone other than the people setting up the lunch program.
The school needs a separate application for book fees. If the federal government knew they were using the Lunch Program application: they could lose money. The applications are not open records, and have nothing to do with other school fees.
Someone could turn the school in to the federal Lunch Program for using the applications for other uses.

[vicky122]

It is a violation. The federal application has NOTHING to do with the book fees. The application should never be seen by anyone other than the people setting up the lunch program.
The school needs a separate application for book fees. If the federal government knew they were using the Lunch Program application: they could lose money. The applications are not open records, and have nothing to do with other school fees.
Someone could turn the school in to the federal Lunch Program for using the applications for other uses.

The book store doesn't get the lunch application. We send a book waiver with the student. And we also not only have it on computer we keep a copy of that with the application. So when the state comes in they see the forms. Most of our students are free if not reduced. We have very few paid.