Readers says on the eve of Graduation , Seniors held hostage phantom fines, fees and overly inflated activity fees
Meanwhile at Ridgewood High School members of the Class of 2013, senior students, on the eve of their high school graduation are being held hostage to phantom fines, fees and overly inflated activity fees.
Less than five years ago the yearly activity fee was $75 now that same activity fee is $150. Disregarding district policy requiring collection of fees on a yearly basis or prohibit the student from participating in extracurricular activities, fees are cleverly hidden and withheld until a few weeks prior to graduation. Parents and students are threatened with being barred from participating in graduation, withholding of graduation tickets, withholding of final transcripts to colleges, barred from project graduation activities and more. During the past month anywhere between $150-$600 or more, is being demanded from parents without so much as an invoice.
In addition, 17 and 18 year old students are being asked to fork over cash, before getting tuxedo tickets and graduation tickets, for newly alleged damages to books and school equipment, added fees for art, science lab classes and more.
Shouldn’t the district be required to collect fees and fines on a timely basis? And what recourse does a student have if they are first learning now about a missing library book from four years ago? The student believes he returned the book and four years later should not be held accountable for a failure of the district or school librarian.
This is shameful, and while it has been going on for years, it must end now! District administrators and our BOE should be responsible for timely accounting practices and appropriate implementing of district policy.
Holding kids hostage to hidden fees and fines on the eve of their graduation is a disgrace and speaks poorly of the Ridgewood Public School District.
Senior parents were told to check their Skyward accounts weeks, if not months, ago to see if there were outstanding balances so as to avoid this. As a senior parent, I received multiple e-mails (warnings) to check Skyward and pay up, if necessary.
I agree that the fees are ridiculous and out of hand but that’s a separate issue from contention that students were held “hostage” at the last minute. They, and their parents, had ample warning this was going down.
#2 – I am the parent of a graduation RHS Senior. Seniors and their parents were sent multiple e-mails (warnings) telling them to check Skyward for outstanding balances and to pay up ASAP. These e-mails were sent over the course of several weeks/months. There was ample notice that seniors would need to settle their balances prior to graduation. The only kids caught today were the kids who, along with their parents, were not paying attention to the multiple e-mails that were sent. I am sorry if you weren’t paying attention but RHS notifies all seniors and their parents multiple times. I owed several years “activities fees” because I chose to “defer” them as a protest but I knew I would have to pay up eventually and I did just that last month.
And, for the record, I think the fees are absurd.
This is the only leverage that they have to collect payment. The fees are online and you get a periodic email about them. If you wait till senior year they will still get their money.
I got similar messages for a sophomore. They do not go away. I reviewed them and paid up.
Wow! I don’t know who you people are that are commenting, but personally, that was NOT my experience. I have visited Skyward on various occasions to pay for AP exams, etc. Yet it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I first saw activity fees added on for the current and prior years after receiving an email from the school. When I tried inquiring about this as the email suggested, I waited and waited for a response, until it was too close to graduation to seek recourse. The district policy is no payment, no activities, not run up a bill and we’ll hoist it onto the students and parents when its too late for any discussion. I did not know about the $150 annual charge, as many other parents I’ve spoken to.
Frankly, the above two posts just don’t seem like they’re from parents. Why would a parent, let alone two in quick succession, post remarks that make such attacks and assumptions about other parents. Face it, most of us have some injustice regarding the school to complain about and would not randomly attack a fellow parent for their woes. And this policy of not billing for various items over the four years until the end of senior year is widely known.
#5 -seems like many, many parents (including myself) received multiple e-mails concerning this matter. And I don’t see any “attacks” in the above posts, just facts. FACT – multiple e-mails were sent to parent and student e-mail addresses and multiple messages were included on Skyward. If you logged into Skyward and there is an unread message, the message screen would have been the first thing you saw. I saw many messages concerning fees that were overdue.
I must ask, where do your children go to school? Activity fees are assess at both BFMS and GWMS so it’s almost implausible that you wouldn’t know about activity fees when your kids got to RHS? I don’t know a single parent (and I have a few kids) who doesn’t know, and complain, about the activities fees.
I can understand someone who’s complaining wanting anonymity on this subject, but why would someone supporting what they view as school policy need to post as anonymous. Whoever you are, be grateful for your more positive experiences. I for one have had to get some school notifications from other parents. The bill for $150 per year that came in the Spring was the absolute first I had heard about that activities fee. I went on the district and high school websites after my bill arrived and was hard pressed to find anything about it. Getting a call back from Mrs. Maggi was another odyssey. Why oh why is there not a letter with a sign off for parents on this billable item as with other items? And why is it okay to allow kids to join clubs if their parents haven’t been paying up? Seems very Fishbeiny to me.
Ditto #7! Obviously #6 can’t recognize an attack even when he/she writes one.
How does that joke go? Why is 6 so afraid of 7? Perhaps because 7 is right and 6 seems to have an uncontrollable need to crap on people whose experiences he/she knows nothing about. Read the original post 7. Obviously there are others who had some problems over this issue that need to be addressed. Everyone knows that the school digs up charges at the last minute. Where have you been?
Sounds like a childish attack. Pay attention and pay your bills, they will not just go away.
#7 – I’m trying not to attack you but where did your children go go middle school? Are you new to the Village (or as I call it, the “Billage)? With all due respect, I cannot cannot fathom that you did not know about the activity fee. I don’t know a single middle school or high school parent who is unaware of the activity fee as they send home notices about it at the beginning of every single school year and bombard you throughout the year. There were many, many e-mails and Skyward messages sent. You couldn’t access Skyward without going through the messages. My son, who is graduating tomorrow, received the e-mails through his own mail accounts and checked on Skyward, and with me to ensure, that our fees were paid. If a teenage boy can read and follow up on these e-mails, parents should be able to as well. Do you typically receive e-mails from your children’s schools? If so, you likely received the activity fee e-mails and didn’t pay attention to them.
And, a simple search on Google (“Ridgewood” “High School” “Activity fee”) would have provided you with answers. Are you unaware that RHS has a website? Take a look at it . . there is a big tab to the left that says “Clubs and Activities” and when you click on it, the first thing that pops up is “For general information about paying your fees, click here”. It’s not buried in the RHS website (which can be cumbersome).
The District likely assumes that you, as a parent, have read their extensive e-mails, Skyward messages and mailed information concerning activity fees and advised your children as to whether or not they can join clubs. They assume that your child has your approval to join the club since you have been notified of the fees repeatedly. Kids know if they join a club, there’s going to be a fee. I really don’t think it’s fair to blame this on Mr. Fishbein.
Personally, I think the activity fee is ridiculous. IF you even breath in RHS, the fee applies. I’d like to see a pay-as-you-play structure because I don’t think a kid who attends one Latin club meeting during the year should pay as much as a kid who plays 3 varsity sports (with multiple coaches, trainers, equipment, buses).
Where is #6 abusing people (I’ll paraphrase)? And where are #1 – #5 abusing people. Seems like you may be the only one with a lack of control here. #5 questions whether posters are actually RHS parents but that’s about it. Posters are posting about their own experience with this particular matter. Seems pretty civil until you came along. I have had 4 children graduate from RHS and not a single charge has been “dug up” at the last minute. I’ve certainly disagreed with some of the charges for damaged textbooks (they were in poor shape to begin with) but I was always notified in a timely and efficient manner.
I think the best point is that these fees are assessed from 6th grade – 12th grade so how could you NOT know about them? Anyone care to explain how they missed 6 years of e-mails, Skyward notifications, etc. about the fees and were then shocked on graduation eve?
Wah, Wah, Wah . . . my little Johnny (or Suzy) was embarrassed today at graduation practice because I was too busy playing tennis, lunching with the ladies, sucking up at Dad’s night (take your pick) to pay attention to school messages . . . wah, wah wah.
Grow up . . . admit you dropped the ball on this one . . . apologize to your child for embarrassing them . . . and enjoy graduation tomorrow.
10, 11, 12, etc. you really are the reason why blogs like this are so pointless. The only thing worth reading is the article. After that, it’s often down hill fast. Do you really think that your limited scope of experience defines an entire graduating classes’ issues? Really, the extent that you will go to in order to belittle a total stranger is classic. I haven’t been to this site in years, but a friend suggested that I read this article so I gave it a go. I stopped blogging so long ago because of anonymous fools that are attracted to this kind of environment where they can pass judgement and try to somehow feel superior. How sad. How pathetic.
I know for a fact that the problems expressed in this article really did happen to good people who are intelligent and honest and pay their bills, but were taken in by a practice that has been allowed for too long. I know what happened to me personally along those lines and I can assure you that I do not fall into any of the ridiculous stereotypes dreamed up here by people that clearly have nothing better to do.
Believe it or not, everyone’s experiences are not just like yours. So if this was not your experience, you could, if you possessed an ounce of civility or even just plain manners, just leave it at that. Really, none of you seem qualified to judge anyone else. Unfortunately, you don’t let that stop you. Clearly, you do not have your finger on the pulse of the entire school community.
Oh, and FYI, packets from prior years quoted district policy of barring students who do not pay in September from participating in activities. No one should be getting billed after the fact. This past year’s packet had no letter about activity fees at all.
So many of you seem focused on only the activities fees. What about the false claims of lost or damaged books, first made a mere week or two prior to graduation? So now you are “leveraged’ to pay something that you don’t even owe. The truth is, that if you paid that or if your child was allowed to continually, year after year, participate in activities without any payment from you and you just paid that now, you have been taken. If you don’t want to do anything about it, you only make yourself look more foolish by putting down others who do. Some of you here say you don’t agree with the activity fees, but you pay them anyway. Well, if they allow your child to participate without your consent and payment, you owe them nothing. One person here, #2, said he (or she) “deferred” payment as a protest and then paid it all in the end. And you feel this somehow makes you able to judge others? That’s just plain silly, almost child-like. And what did you prove? That you can pay a bill real late? These people were raising these fees as much as 25% a year and you went for it, when in truth, you did not have to. I’ve got news for you #12, my children would be more embarrassed to have a sheep like you for a parent than someone who won’t be taken advantage of.
The only thing sad and pathetic is you, #13. You seem to have made a mistake and now you (and perhaps a few of your friends) are trying to assign blame to the school districts. Why is the only valid point that of the initial poster? Believe it or not, the other posters have simply expressed that their experiences are different than yours. I questioned my daughter as to the number of kids who were pulled aside at graduation yesterday and she said “about 10”. So 10 out of 400 (2.5%) so clearly, I good deal of the school community is aware of, and pays, the fees in a timely fashion. I am just dealing in facts, not emotion. I’m sure that good and decent people miss e-mails and messages but good and decent people then take responsibility for their actions; they don’t try to assign it elsewhere. See, that is the problem with today’s society; no one knows how to gracefully acknowledge they made a mistake. It’s always some elses fault. Maybe that is the point of this article.
how does the school know books are lost or damaged until the end of the school year? would you prefer teachers used classroom time to check books quarterly? how would you do it?
#10 exactly my point. These books should be dealt with at the end of the school year, not one, two or three years later. Thank you.
And as far as the comment #15 is concerned, again thank you for illustrating that point of mine as well. It is not your experience. I think anyone reading this thread gets that, so you can stop repeating it over and over. It was the experience of a lot of other people, some of whom had already paid whether the fines or fees or whatever were legitimate or not, because the school offered them very little choice so close to graduation.
Apparently #15’s daughter has this problem as well or perhaps is just another child embarrassed on the eve of her graduation by her parent’s meddling in a situation he/she has no part in. If you feel like an ass for paying, that is your problem. Stop visiting that upon us here.
Sorry, but my daughter is not embarrassed by a parent setting the record straight. As an RHS parent, I am not “meddling” in the activity fee; I am part of the universe that receives e-mails and pays the fees. I know of no one who was held”hostage” to a fee they did not legitimately owe. I do know several parents who objected to fees and who, when dealing with the District in a mature manner, received a satisfactory outcome. Simply my experience.
Exacty #18, your experience and nothing more.
Glad to hear about a satisfactory outcome. What was it? I only ask because I contacted the district in a mature manner, but never heard back from them.
My outcome was that I did NOT pay the activity fee for a year when my child went to one meeting of a club just to check it out. No band, no sports, no other clubs. She was reported by the advisor to the District as a club member based on that one attendance. I explained the situation and the fee was removed. This was a few years back.
You had a better response than my non-response #21. District policy says that even one meeting attendance results in the fee. So why should some people who ask for a break, get one while others do not? Also, do you really think the school should have the power to bar a student from graduation and refuse to release their transcripts to their college in these cases? I don’t think that those actions are even lawful. So why should they have that power? What if the mistake is the school’s and they refuse to recognize it or they inform you so late that there is no time to even look into it? Why don’t they just bar the student from the club at the appropriate time for non-payment, as that is the stated school policy, or collect the book fines each year before allowing a student to use the library or use other textbooks? That would surely end at least some of the surprises at the end of senior year, but it would also cut the revenue from activities and other “fines” immensely because parents could then make informed timely decisions and act on other situations in a timely manner. Or they could handle it like any other person or institution, in court or through a collection agency. What they are doing for “leverage” would be called something else in a court of law. And what about the “several” others referred to in comment #18? What happened in their situations? If they are being cited as part of an argument, then please explain.
#22 – all good questions. Why not pose them to the BOE instead of this blog?
These questions have been asked #23, but they were ignored. People seem to think that all you have to do is ask politely. Many people who have done that know better. But we do have each other to communicate with, so how about those other parents referred to in response #18? In the absence of information it seems more like one person got a favor.
#23, I’ve been to more BOE meetings over the years than I care to mention, sometimes to speak, sometimes just to listen. Yet over decades of time I have never seen any evidence of the BOE taking any action based on the public’s comments. And btw, what they’ve done regarding these large yearly increases in the activities fees is disgraceful. On top of that, we had a considerable period without the added expense of a principal’s salary, so why are we even being charged for activities this year?
And how can the BOE justify lobbying to pay our superintendent more than the Governor says we should while increasing these fees at such a high rate each year? All questions they will not address…
This is an interesting issue since I can recall when the fee was considerably less. It does seem like a hefty increase. It is worth noting that each year taxpayers are asked to support the boe budget with the threat of programs and activities being cut. I wonder how this is reconciled with the 100% increase in the activity fee. I don’t recall going to the polls with the knowledge of a 2, 4 or 6% tax increase plus an increase in the activity fee.
Why not mention it when peddling the budget door to door.
I also agree the school should be collecting the fee yearly or prohibit the student from participation in any activity. Simple enough. Btw someone posted they received calls and emails over the past few months notifying seniors to pay fees and fines. Maybe those calls and emails should go out to all parents including freshman, sophomore and juniors. Make sure everyone is up to date and avoiding problems in the future.