And school meal prices will also increase, said Adam Zink, treasurer for Lakota Schools.
“The last time we increased pay-to-participate fees was in 2011 before they were lowered again in 2014 following the community’s passage of the last operating levy,” said Zink.
According to Lakota officials, the district covers just over 75 percent of these total expenses, with the remainder passed on to parents.
“In spite of rising costs, we have remained committed to keeping these costs fixed for our families for the last 10 years.”
Since 2020, Lakota has been able to waive all student fees by using federal dollars from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, according to district officials.
Zink said ESSER funds are no longer available, necessitating the return of annual fees to cover the district’s costs for “consumable” supplies. Consumable supplies are items used by individual students as part of their daily instruction, like student workbooks or art materials, for example.
“We have worked very hard to build a zero-based budgeting model for student fees moving forward,” said Zink, explaining that fees will be adjusted year over year to account for any deficiencies or overages from the previous year’s expenses.
Higher fees will also impact the wide variety of sports and other after-school programs that involve thousands of Lakota’s more than 18,300 students each school year.
Junior school participation fees for the upcoming school year increase from $150 to $225 per student.
At the high school level, the per-student fee increased from $200 to $300. The family cap was set at $600 for one student and $900 for two or more students.
School meals will also be impacted.
Lakota officials said the last increase for meal prices took place in the 2017-2018 school year.
For the upcoming school year, daily breakfast prices will increase for all grades by $0.25 to $1.75. Lunch entree prices for all grades increased to $3 (previously $2.50 for grades K-6 and $2.75 for grades 7-12) and the federally reduced meal price — for qualified families — was set at $0.40 per meal.
Beginning July 15, families can apply for free and reduced meal prices. The application link for the 2024-2025 school year will be available on the meal application page of Lakota’s Child Nutrition website. Families must re-apply for this status each year.
Lakota officials said the last increase for meal prices took place in the 2017-2018 school year.
The Lakota school board approved the return of fees at its June 27 meeting.
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