Something that has changed in Coronado this year is that students didn’t have to pay class fees (with the exception of foreign language). This is something that has affected the science and art departments heavily and negatively. From not having enough copies to cutting out labs to constantly losing supplies due to sharing them, the effects are pretty bad. Coupled with budgets being cut, teachers and classes are suffering.

I talked to several teachers about this and tried to find out why class fees were no more. The only person who seemed to know why class fees didn’t happen this year was Mr. Muth, who said that the district didn’t want to ask for class fees due to the recently passed mill levy. Since the community was already giving the district a fair amount of money, they didn’t want to ask for even more through class fees.

What in the world is a mill levy? In simple terms, people pay a little more in property taxes to fund public services such as public schools. The community of Colorado Springs decided to pass a mill levy for district 11, and according to the 2017 Mill Levy Override Plan, the main goal of the plan was to focus more money on paying off debt. It passed and gave $9,300,000 to the district.

This created a budget of almost $292 million, with 59.3% of it being dedicated to teachers, supplies and equipment for regular and special education programs. But at Coronado, there are still big issues because budgets were cut and there weren’t any class fees.

I first talked to Mr. Muth, who had to cut out two labs for AP biology this year and pay $150 out of pocket to perform two labs in AP biology. He had to do this so that he had enough copies of paper for his classes, and had to be careful with spending, otherwise he would have to ask Mr. Smith for more money or scrounge up the money himself. He commented that he doesn’t really know why the budget for the science department was cut.

Mr. Nash fortunately didn’t have to cut out many labs for his AP class due to his small class size. However, he expressed his concerns about next year due to 30-35 students signing up for AP chemistry, as he may have to cut out labs and make more copies of papers. When asked about the budget cuts issue, he said that he didn’t know why, but budgets were cut in half a few times, and most of the time, budgets have always been cut year-to-year.

Then, I talked to Mr. Urban, who teaches Spanish (which was allowed to keep class fees). I asked him why foreign language kept the class fee, and he genuinely wasn’t sure why. His best theory is that he voiced his complaints aloud to the right board member, and did so loud enough to keep class fees for his classes. He also made some really good points as to why class fees should be kept, but I’ll get to that later.

I also asked Mr. Wade a few questions, and despite him only having taught physics for a year at this school, he had valuable input. He didn’t have to cut out labs, but over the year he didn’t consider extra extensions on labs because it wasn’t an option due to money. He also made a good point that the district’s budget is affected by the city, which is a huge factor for the district and their decisions. He also pointed out that some students and their families can’t afford class fees.

While interviewing teachers, I noticed another issue. None of them knew why budgets were cut. Teachers are kept in the dark about it, or at least the ones I’ve talked to were. However, that’s whole different issue on it’s own, although it’s an important factor in why we should have class fees.

So, here’s why we should have class fees.

Although a budget of $292 million seems like a lot, it really isn’t. According to niche.com, the district spends approximately $9,850 per student and the district has 27,911 students within it. This comes out to be $274,895,439. Even with the recent mill levy, schools need a lot of money to run, and teachers need supplies. Class fees range from $5-$20, something that most people can afford. At Coronado, if someone can’t afford a class fee, they can receive help from Cougars Care and be exempt from paying the fee. This addresses the inequity that Mr. Wade brought up with poorer families being unable to pay fees.

Since budgets are cut so much and so often for many departments, class fees would bridge that gap and help soften the blow so that teachers can afford copies, supplies, and labs. This helps in keeping teachers less stressed about money and supplies and more focused on actually teaching. Despite more of the district money being allocated to teachers and supplies, it just isn’t enough. However, with the recent mill levy originally being meant for paying off debt, more of that $9 million dollars could be allocated to helping teachers purchase supplies. Debt is important, but the future generation is more important and depends on a good education.

Something Mr. Urban brought up when I spoke to him was that when class fees are in place, we are investing in our education and assign it more value. Students have more investment in actually learning when they pay, even if it’s just $5. Those $5 can mean the difference between an okay education and a good education, and that’s why we should bring class fees back.