The Big Walnut school board has trimmed costs for many high school students and all full-day kindergarten students.

Grades 9-12 now have a $100 flat fee that covers most courses; and full-day kindergarten tuition has been reduced from $275 per month to $225 per month.

Superintendent Angie Pollock said some students have avoided taking classes they were interested in and would find value in because of high lab and/or material fees.

“We didn’t want kids not to take classes because the fees were too high,” Pollock said. “The new $100 flat fee for the high school includes a $20 tech fee. I think this new flat fee will be a lot more affordable for our families.”

Some fees are not included in the high school’s $100 flat fee. The district’s 13 AP courses will still have a $92 per course test fee; and there are fees for FFA dues and activities, FCS dues and activities, band and choir uniforms and activities, senior class dues, and student parking permits.

Preschool tuition is $165 per month; the annual preschool through grade 8 fee is $55.

Athletic pay-to-participate fees will be $150 per sport at the high school, with a $300 family cap. The Big Walnut Middle School athletic fee per sport is $75, with a $150 family cap. High school swim team members will pay an additional $100 facility fee, in addition to the family cap.

Treasurer Terri Eyerman-Day noted that families qualifying for free lunch status also have other school fees waived; those with reduced lunch status pay only 50 percent of any other school fee – academic and athletic.

Eyerman-Day encouraged families to check the food service page on the school district website to see if they qualify for free or reduced lunch status. She said the process is confidential, and the district receives Title I dollars based on the number of families that qualify for lunch assistance.

Pollock also noted that “The Eagle Examiner,” the district’s newsletter, would hit the streets Aug. 3.

“It will have back-to-school information,” Pollock said. “The cost will be $2,200 per issue to print and mail to every home in the district.”

The newsletter, modeled on a similar newsletter Buckeye Valley has published for the past two years, will also have editions mailed out in October, in January, and at the close of the school year.