I really want to commend the outreach from the district regarding a number of issues but particularly on the budget.  I admit the original survey was confusing but the budget meeting and subsequent posts are really helpful.  All said I really think transportation -- buses -- are a luxury for sporting events and activities.  Even with perceived liability issues, parent transportation and carpooling has some side benefits.  Parents coordinate more - even if it's not the most comfortable - we get to connect with kids that are not our kids and not our kids best friends.  Plus kids may learn the environmental benefits of carpooling more.  Thanks again.

I understand that the district maybe reluctant to introduce fees, but if the alternative is lay off teachers, TA's, custodians and other office support personnel that work with our children, I think the choice is clear: "Pay for play" or pay to ride the bus. 

I also think it's interesting that you make an assumption that the people who came to the meeting and filled out the online survey "are a little higher than average on the socio-economic ladder."  You did not request that information (from at least at the session I attended) so you really don't know.  I hope the DART team isn't trying to second guess the feedback that has been collected. 

People from rungs of the socio-economic ladder understand that paying $300 for a all year bus service vs laying off a teacher is an easy choice to make.  Or asking a football player to pay $575 a year to play ont the team vs cutting school supplies like copy paper and services like security at our high schools is a no brainer.  

signed: jlt

I don't know why increasing sports fees is a "no brainer" as some have said. Sports is just as much a part of some kids lives as music is to others, and math is to others.  Sports is keeping my kid sane in junior high.  I've literally never seen him so happy.  It is teaching him to work hard, a lesson he doesn't understand when taught in a regular classroom.  He is learning to work with others, something he has always struggled with.  He is learning to overcome his limits, he is learning goal-setting.  He is learning the possibilities and rewards of accomplishing something he thought impossible.  Physical movement is his language just as music was my language when I was his age.  Just as math is his brother's language. 

There's no way the new nearly $300 per sport fee will be possible for us.  It will become a matter of rich kids vs poor kids no matter what feeble attempts are made to pay for "under privileged" kids. We can't afford it, yet we have no debt other than the house and don't qualify for help according to the income charts.  What do you suggest? How should we come up with $900 per year ($300 x 3 sports).  And that's just one kid . . what about the other 2?

I grew up with music, and thought sports was a waste of time.  BUT now I have a kid who NEEDS to be in the sports program.  It is his outlet, and his means of communication.  You have no idea.

Why do we still have public education?  With more fees added every year, and more taxes charged every year, it is just becoming mandatory private education.  The only option is homeschool, which we are also doing, BUT you can't homeschool a whole track team!  And it's the team and the coaches that make the difference.

So, yes, I went to the budget meetings.  I have children in all the music programs, the art program, Quest, and sports.  I filled out all the budget forms, keeping all the kids differences in mind. It can be done without making one area pay the bulk of the price.