Fayette parents upset about cost increase for after-school programs

Some parents in Fayette County Public Schools are upset about a 36% increase in fees for after-school programs, from $11 to $15 per day, and what they describe as a lack of transparency with the school board vote.

Davis Meyer, who has two children in the Cassidy Elementary after-school program, told the Herald-Leader, “I am very disappointed in the increase of the aftercare program at FCPS. ... That is a significant increase, significant. From my standpoint, this was a very sneaky approach. “

Madeline Vied, another parent with two children in Cassidy’s after-school program, where children complete homework, play and eat snacks from the end of the school day until about 6 p.m., wrote to school board vice chairman Amy Green and shared the emails with the Herald-Leader.

“Where is the money from this rate increase going? “ Vied asked.

Green acknowledged to the Herald-Leader and Madeline Vied that communication mistakes were made. Fayette district officials had not commented by Tuesday morning.

Meyer said she was charged via a required payment processing vendor from Fayette County schools, on August 5.

“We were charged $15 per day before school even started, and before we were ever once told the rate had increased,” Meyer said.

“We received notification on August 9 that the rate increased and that the school board voted on this increase,” Meyer said.

The FCPS Board voted on the increase on August 8. It was classified under “Routine Instruction Fees.” she said.

“All of this happened after we were charged. The vote didn’t even matter. How can there be such an increase that is pushed under the table without following proper board policies through open meetings when there are action items discussed?” Meyer said.

“How can you do that to families who now have no other option, and their money was already taken from them?”

Vied said she discussed the rate with her program director at her local school, and they were unaware of any pay raises that they would receive or increased costs for the program itself.

“They actually shared that they were unaware of any pay raise they have ever received. They were equally angry about the increase because they are getting lots of parent questions without any guidance or information to share. You have passed the burden to the already overworked care workers instead of creating transparency from the top,” Vied said.

Green said she understood the change has caused frustration and stress for some district families.

Green said there has not been an increase in after-school program fees since the 2019 school year. Since 2019, the Board of Education has made significant investments in staff salaries without adjusting the fee structure accordingly.

Green said the increase is a necessary step to ensure that programs remain self-sustaining and can continue to offer the high-quality care and support that students and families rely on. The additional revenue from the rate increase is going directly towards covering the increased costs associated with personnel, food, and other essential resources that have risen sharply over the past few years, Green said.

Green said principals have told school board members the increase in salaries and the exponential increase in the cost of food has put a huge restraint on these after-school program budgets. The principals said that while they and the program directors are trying to be thoughtful and proactive with their spending, staffing, and resource costs, the increases in expenses are not sustainable.

Green said in an email to Vied she had spoken with Superintendent Demetrus Liggins regarding the timing of fee changes, “as a few weeks before the beginning of the school year is not the most opportune time for families to plan.“

“He has assured me that, moving forward he is exploring the possibility of adjusting the timeline for when student fees are presented to the Board for consideration, potentially moving this to mid-spring semester,” Green said.

“This change would better allow families to receive the most up-to-date and final fees for the upcoming school year in a timely manner and better enable them to make decisions about their children’s after-school care earlier. “

Green told the Herald-Leader in an email Monday night that fees were first presented to the school board during the board planning meeting on July 8 where staff explained the proposed changes to the fee structure and invited questions.

“Thereafter, the agenda item for approving student fees was inadvertently left off the consent agenda at the regular July Board meeting, where it would normally have been included. As a result, it was added to the consent agenda for the August 8 planning meeting, and was unanimously approved,” Green said.

“Initially, the district assumed, incorrectly, that the board had approved the new student fee amounts on July 22nd, and payment processes began based on those new figures,” she said.

Once the district realized the mistake, all payment requests and processing using the new fees were immediately halted, pending school board approval on Aug. 8, Green said.