The school districts board of education met last night and approved fees for the 2013-2014 school year, among other things. Fees associated with the pre-school, elementary, middle, and high schools were all mostly kept the same with the exception of one fee at the high school.

View the Complete List of Fees Here

"I did reduce the parking sticker fee at the high school, it was at $25 I reduced it to $20," says Superintendent Russ Reiter.

That fee helps fund the cost of parking stickers and for maintenance of the lot, such as coving pot holes. Reiter plans to install cameras in the South Lot this coming summer which is another reason for keeping the fee. But cutting the cost by $5 wasn't enough for some board members.

"I appreciate Mr. Reiter getting rid of some of the unnecessary fees such as student planner and towel fees... Now that being said just like last year I simply do not support the parking fee... I just don't feel it's okay to charge students to park in their parking lot... A parking lot that was built probably with tax payer dollars when the high school was constructed", says Board Member Charlie Comfort.

"I know there's maintenance costs on our roofs and our boilers and other type of equipment... I don't support that idea on a tax funded property and so I request we remove the parking fee from the fee schedule," says Board Member Tom Richardson.

The funds generated from This years parking sticker fee has gone toward purchasing cameras that monitor the high schools north parking lot. Those cameras have caught acts of vandalism and traffic violations.

"Even after being up for the short period of time, they have been effective... They have paid off a little bit already and their paying dividends," says Reiter.

And because of Reiter's plan to instal cameras in the south lot, other board members are okay with the fee.

"I am in favor of this fee, and I'm not saying I would be in favor of it for ever but definitely if we're still looking at getting more cameras so our children can be safer," says Board President Susan Boxler.

("My inclination would be that until we reach our goal and we have what we need, to leave it at what is proposed at this point," says Board Vice-President Laurie Fiscella.

"We're not required to provide a parking lot for all the kids to drive to school, I mean we do and there's maintenance with the parking lot and I don't think that's an extravagant fee compared to other schools," says Board Member Anne Whitis.

Reiter says parking fees at High Schools are fairly common, but he'd consider reducing the fee in the future. "We're trying to do everything we can to reduce the number of fees, but I guess my goal was to reduce it little by little by little making sure we can cover all of our needs," says Reiter.

The fees for the next school year were passed 4-3, With Charlie Comfort, Nik Rule, and Tom Richardson voting against.