By Eileen Persike
Editor
Families in the Rhinelander School District will get some relief from student fees. The school board approved a recommendation by the Operations and Strategic Planning Committee to eliminate material course fees for individual classes at the middle school and high school, eliminate the cost of band and chorus shirts, and allow students to get into school activities free of charge.

Superintendent Kelli Jacobi said the administrative team has been discussing student fees since the arrival of Bob Thom, director of business services.

Of the $93,044.04 in fees the district collected last year, approximately $25,000 was from the fees the board eliminated. Fees that will remain are the standard material and supply fees, athletic fees and driver’s education fees, parking permit fees, lost lock and library fees.

Jacobi said the reduction in fees has no effect on individual school budgets. All fees collected go into the fund balance. The idea was proposed to the committee for several reasons, including that the process to collect fees is labor intensive, using time that could be better spent elsewhere. Also, many of the fees are for academic courses and though the fee may seem trivial there may be some students who choose not to take a course because they cannot pay the fee.