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Saturday, December 11, 2004

Indiana Courts - More on the school fees case

Updating our most recent (11/24/04) entry on Nagy v. Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp., the school fees case argued before our Supreme Court on Nov. 23rd, is this excellent review today by Pam Tharp in the Richmond Palladium-Item. A few quotes:

The Indiana Supreme Court will decide soon whether charging fees to public school students is constitutional. And how the court defines the fees could be crucial to already cash-strapped school districts across the state.

Almost all Indiana schools charge students some fees, though most aren't charging students the kind of fee that triggered the court case by a parent against Evansville-Vanderburgh Schools.

The Evansville district charged students a $20 activity fee that was used to pay nurses and counselors, the Associated Press reports.

Attorneys for parents argued the activity fee, levied to raise funds to offset the district's budget deficit, was the equivalent of charging tuition because it paid salaries. Tuition for public schools is prohibited by the Indiana Constitution.

Richmond Community Schools charges fees but they're all directly related to instructional services, Superintendent Allen Bourff said.

"We link all our fees to supplies. We feel very comfortable that we've complied with the law as it has been interpreted," Bourff said.

Using fees to pay salaries brought attention to Evansville's fee, said Centerville Superintendent Charles Hobbs.

"We have no fees that are comparable to Evansville's. Our fees are pretty standard, lab fees for materials, a postage fee for report cards," Hobbs said.

"We're more concerned that the ruling might declare no fees could be charged, including textbooks. It could have far-reaching ramifications," Hobbs added.

The lawsuit didn't include textbook fees as an illegal fee, but in its ruling the Indiana Court of Appeals said the activity fees, and perhaps textbooks fees, were unconstitutional. Evansville schools appealed that ruling to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 11, 2004 05:08 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts