Relief from school fees at least a year away for Utah families

SALT LAKE CITY — As children across Utah head back to class, their parents find themselves trying to cover the cost of school fees.

For years, KSL TV has been reporting on those fees and their impact on Utahns struggling to make ends meet.

Lawmakers have been eyeing a fix for a while now, and recently, they approved one. But it won’t help families for at least another year.

‘We were shocked’

Mario and Adriana Arras have a daughter who just started attending Murray High School. Like many families, they set up a back-to-school budget.

But the couple quickly realized their budget wasn’t going to work as planned – because of school fees.

“When we saw those fees, we were shocked, quite honestly,” Mario Arras told KSL TV.

Adriana Arras said it cost over $500 for her daughter’s core and elective classes.

“Even though we had fees last year” for junior high, she said, “it just did not compare.”

Lawmakers approve fee fix

Families throughout Utah face school fees every year. For the last few years, state lawmakers have tried reining them in.

“We’re working to really find the right solution to this,” Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden, said.

Millner was one of the sponsors of HB415 last session, which gets rid of curricular fees associated with classes students have to take.

Sen. Ann Millner told KSL TV that lawmakers are working hard to address the cost of school fees. (Nathaniel Gillis, KSL TV)

The bill passed and was signed by Gov. Spencer Cox. But it doesn’t take effect until next school year.

“We still had gray areas we needed to clarify,” Millner said, such as how to pay for co-curricular activities that are part of a course or program but happen outside school hours.

Millner said lawmakers plan to put forward another bill next session to clarify which type of fees will stay and which ones will be eliminated. She also pointed out the Legislature has already set aside $35 million in one-time money to account for the loss of revenue from fewer school fees.

Asked if she believed this would be resolved in time to take effect next school year and provide financial relief for Utah families, Millner was optimistic.

“I think this will be resolved,” she said, “and it will provide relief.”

Hoping for change

Back at home in Murray, Mario and Adriana Arras reflected on how burdensome school fees can be.

“There’s a lot of expenses throughout the year,” Adriana Arras said. “But the beginning of the year is really heavy.”

Mario Arras said it “does give me hope” that lawmakers are trying to solve the issue of school fees. He also said his family can handle the financial hit that comes with those fees.

But he worries about others.

“What happens to the people that are not able to?” he said.

Some families can qualify for fee waivers based on income or other circumstances. For more information, click here.