They can't charge you to register. That's a denial of provision of a FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education). I don't think even charters can do this. Something is wrong here.
According to the reception lady, they get around this by offering 'free' registration like they do lunches, if you meet certain income levels. They also told me today that it would be an extra 100 per kid if they they wanted to use ipads.
From what I understood there were fees for certain classes and standardized tests that had to be paid before her kids could start. So technically there may not have been a registration fee for the school but her children still couldn't take their middle school classes unless they paid in.
She called it a registration fee. There are no special classes. There isn't even a gifted program (which my son was in in Oregon) . This is just normal school shit. This isn't a charter school, it's a public school and the only one available in my district. They said 'Welcome to Illinois!' When I was shocked, like it was normal here. And she went on to be like 'I heard Texas did free school,' and I was like 'I've lived in seven states and never once had to pay for registration.'
I never once said it was for ap or extra classes, not sure where you got that. This is just to get them in the door. For high school it's apparently worse, 250 per kid per year, before the extra drivers ed fee. And this is not even including lunches. AND the school Supply list was insane, asking for white boards and shit. Wtf.