Financially strapped districts get tougher on collecting fees

From The Chicago Tribune: Battling cancer and struggling to pay bills after her husband's layoff, Dianne Good can't afford her daughter's $290 in school fees at Morton West High School in Berwyn, Ill. But officials with Morton District 201 say the family doesn't qualify for a fee waiver. Now, Good worries her daughter will be blocked from her junior year classes, based on a registration note sent home: "Only already registered students who have settled their fees may pick up their fall schedules in the main gym." Illinois law states school districts can't punish or discriminate against students if parents don't pay fees, but oversight is limited and only minor penalties apply if districts violate the law.