Schools that don't abide by Utah laws that require fee waivers for students who can't afford the fees are putting those students at increased risk of failure, Utah Issues officials said Monday.
The agency, an advocacy group for low-income Utahns, held a news conference to report on a survey it conducted among 72 families who said they had been denied fee waivers or had not been properly notified that such waivers were available.The effects of schools' refusal to grant waivers or to give students a hard time in the process of waiving fees was summed up in a quotation included in the report of the Utah Issues research:
"My daughter was told that this year fees couldn't be waived," said an unidentified mother. "They threatened to withhold her grades and diploma, and they always hounded her for money. I didn't have a job and we didn't have any money, but every couple of weeks they would pressure my daughter for the money. She finally gave up and dropped out of school. I have lost one daughter to the system, and I don't want to lose another."
Shirley Weathers, Utah Issues research director, said: "Excluding children (from school activities) increases their risk. It is not a way to help, it is a way to harm."
The matter was taken to court last week by Utah Legal Services, which filed a class action suit in 3rd District Court on behalf of a group of students and families who say their schools did not follow legal notification and waiver provisions. The suit is against the State Board of Education and Superintendent Scott W. Bean.
Weathers said she could not tell if the plaintiffs were included in the Utah Issues survey, but she said her agency had referred some people to the legal group.
Economic conditions have put more Utah children into homes that meet poverty guidelines, Weathers said, and they should be allowed the waivers granted by law so they can participate fully in school.
Bill Crim, Utah Issues researcher, said the agency had received more than 100 complaints related to school-fee waivers. He said the 72 individuals interviewed for the survey lived in 19 different school districts. He said some low-income parents use limited money to pay the school fees and then don't have money for food, rent and other essentials.
Rich Parks, chairman of the Commission on Youth, a 36-group coalition concerned with children, suggested that schools need to look at their fees and determine if they are all reasonable and necessary. He said such items as $450 fees for drill teams automatically eliminate some children from participation. He said the commission has made school fees the subject of a report that will be issued in October. The coalition will seek greater compliance with the current laws.
The law requires waiver of all fees, including those for extra-curricular activities, for children who are eligible for free or reduced lunches or whose families have particular circumstances that prevent them from paying fees.