Clovis Unified parents refuse fees for school

Lawsuit against school district maintains the charges are illegal.

Posted at 10:46 PM on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009

Three families say the Clovis Unified School District is gouging them on fees for activities like band and color guard -- and even threatening not to let students attend graduation if the bills don't get paid.

They have hired a lawyer and sued in Fresno County Superior Court to avoid paying thousands of dollars in fees.

"When I received the bill, I was in shock," said Dathina Tucker, whose daughter recently graduated from Clovis East. Tucker said she had received an itemized bill from the district to pay $2,431 in "voluntary donations."

The district said her daughter could not walk with her graduating class unless the bill was paid.

Lawyer James D. Miller wrote a letter to the district on Tucker's behalf. The district allowed Tucker's daughter to join the commencement ceremony, but Miller says that's not enough.

"Kids should not be subject to the fees," Miller said. "It's a public institution, and it should be equally accessible to all."

The district has not yet seen the lawsuit, said Kelly Avants, district spokeswoman. But she said fees are only charged for "optional activities" outside of classes.

If families have financial problems, Avants said, the district has programs to help them.

Miller said he plans to try to force the school district to pay back all the other parents who have paid fees for cheerleading, sports, art classes -- even graduation caps and gowns. He also wants a judge to slap the district with a restraining order that would block the fees.

Miller says the fees are illegal. He's not alone. Gary Kreep, executive director of the U.S. Justice Foundation in San Diego County, has won several California cases in which he alleged that school fees were illegal for extracurricular activities.

"Many school districts ignore the law until after they are caught," Kreep said.

Other Fresno-area school districts do not charge such fees, although some costs may be left to families.

In the Madera Unified School District, for example, there are no fees for band, sports, cheerleading or other activities, said Jake Bragonier, a district spokesman. But he said cheerleaders must buy their own uniforms.

The Fresno Unified School District also does not charge fees, said spokeswoman Susan Bedi. As in many districts, cheerleaders have fundraisers to help cover costs for things like uniforms, she said.

"Sometimes families can't afford it, and if they do want to participate, we do everything we can to help them," she said. "We want to give them every opportunity to participate."

For example, Bedi said, if a student can't afford a cap and gown for graduation, the district and the supplier will work together to make sure the student can use one for free.

In Clovis, Miller said, fees are being charged for things like locks for lockers, clothing for physical education, parking permits and bus rides.

Miller said he found an instance in Clovis where a fee was charged for a vocabulary book.

Students are stigmatized when they can't afford to participate in a school program, Miller said.

Besides the Tuckers, the other families in the lawsuit were billed more than $1,000 combined, he said.

He said he has seen fee problems in other local districts, but Clovis is "the most egregious" from elementary school through high school.

Miller wants the case to be considered as a "class action," which would require the district to send notices to every student household to inform them of the possibility that fees have been collected illegally.

Tucker said she would like to see more families be able to let their children participate in activities in the school district.

"Some families said they didn't participate because of the fee," she said.