Have you ever paid someone money and you're not sure exactly where the money goes after it leaves your hand? If so, then you are a taxpayer and probably a parent of a child in public schools. As taxpayers, we never know where our hard earned dollars go. However, as parents of students who have been assessed classroom fees, we should know exactly where that money was spent and what it was used for.

The Lafayette Public Schools are looking to take all the mystery out of classroom fees in the future. What had happened with classroom fees in the past was the money that wasn't used was made a part of that particular school's general fund. This didn't sit well with many parents and educators who felt the classroom fees should be used by the specific teacher that requested the money.

In fact, some within the school system feel that the money that was collected and not used for a specific classroom purpose be refunded to parents. That could still happen but educators have until March to finalize their classroom budgets for the school year so there could still be a need for some class materials that haven't been purchased.

While reimbursement might seem like a great idea, I can only imagine the logistics of tabulating and calculating what students get what money refunded by what teacher. Perhaps the simpler solution would be to have the school system fully fund classrooms so that teachers might secure the materials they need to teach their classes.

Parents who have questions or concerns about the change in fee policy or the potential for refunds may contact the Lafayette Parish School Board office for more information and clarification on the change in policy.

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