During its regular board meeting Tuesday, the Waynesfield-Goshen Board of Education waived all book and school supply fees and all sports fees for the 2016-17 school year .
Officials said it is their absolute highest priority to help all families with children attending W-G, to eliminate cost and potential barriers.
Book and school supply fees average $50 per child at the elementary grades and up to $100 per semester at the high school. The measure would save a family with three children in high school approximately $600.
Earlier this year, the board waived all cost for morning and afternoon preschool classes for next school year, again citing how critical it is to help all young children to learn and grow, socialize with other children, and ultimately prepare to enter full day school.
The board also waived the per-student, per-sport fee of $40 for another year, a potentially large savings for families with multiple children participating in multiple sports. Again, officials said, the goal is to encourage as many students as possible to participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible and promote the six core values for students: commitment, community, integrity, teamwork, leadership, and scholarship. The board also supports many additional opportunities for students in music, band, choir, art, FFA, National Honor Society, Math Club, Reading Club, the annual Spanish Club international trip, and other youth activities, including educational field trips, the student achievement fair, science and art fair, and special presentations at the school such as COSI on Wheels.
District leaders credit local taxpayer support and the solid financial support in the new state funding model for being fiscally stable and able to make these cuts for one year. The board will review the financial status of the district annually and hope to continue the cuts to help families and children in the future.
Another unique concept being implemented is late arrival for juniors and seniors with a GPA of 2.5 or higher, who are allowed to arrive at school second period (8:45 a.m.) or to work on enrichment projects. All other students will have the opportunity to work with an academic coach to review and to increase their learning daily.
For more information, contact Superintendent Chris Pfister at (419) 568-9101.