Curriculum

New Oregon Law Targets Students’ Debts

By Tal Barak — June 09, 2004 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Oregon parents who are not paying their children’s school fees might regret it come the end of the 2004-05 school year, when the schools withhold their children’s report cards or diplomas.

A new state law, which goes into effect July 1, will require school districts in Oregon to hold on to the grade report, diploma, and other school records of any student who owes $50 or more to the district for anything from lost books to unpaid activity fees. The law also says that districts may impose the same penalties on students who owe less than $50. The law leaves it up to the districts to decide how to collect the money when the debt goes over $50, but allows them to hire collection agencies to pursue overdue balances.

John Marshall, the director of legislative services for the Oregon state board of education, said the law was the idea of Rep. Vic Backlund, the Republican who chairs the House education committee.

"[He] was a longtime teacher and coach in Salem, [Ore.], and he had a principal that suggested to him that there were a lot of students that damaged the school by not returning the money that they owed,” Mr. Marshall said.

According to the legislation, before pursuing the collection of student debts by withholding school records and diplomas, districts must give the students and their parents written and oral notice of the districts’ intention to do so.

Mr. Marshall said legal provisions have always allowed districts to take action in cases where students were not paying their fees. “But now the new law will require the school to be more aggressive and demand this money,” he said.

Not a Punishment

Mr. Marshall said legislators decided to write a state law because they believed there needed to be uniformity in enforcing debt collection. “Now all districts are informed that there is a uniform policy that is being implemented,” he said.

Even though some flexibility is allowed on how to implement the policy, districts will be expected to follow the law, Mr. Marshall said.

Gene Evans, the communication director of Oregon’s department of education, said it will be the district’s responsibility to implement this law, but it is up to the schools themselves to decide how to do it.

“This will help the school to receive the money which they need back, and that is very important in those days of declining resources,” Mr. Marshall said. “And it will also educate [students]—it teaches individual responsibility.”

Principal Carol Kemhus of Oregon City High School supports the new law, particularly because fees for sports and other activities are increasingly becoming a fact of school life.

“We’re in a crisis in Oregon City,” she said. “It’s really tough, and I believe in a comprehensive education that includes sports, and in order for that to happen, we need to share the costs.”

The principal said that the 2,200-student school has for many years collected late fees. Under the new law, however, instead of allowing debt to accumulate for several years until graduation day, the school will collect individual debt at the end of each school year.

“We have about $70,000 in debt—that’s a teacher-and-a-half that we can use here,” Ms. Kemhus said. She said that the debt resulted, for example, from students’ loss of textbooks, which have an average value of $60; unpaid fees for extracurricular activities, such as sports that cost $100 per season; and unpaid lab fees of $10 to $20.

“We don’t want to punish anyone,” Ms. Kemhus said. “We’re trying to teach something about economical responsibilities and how to be responsible to our community.” When students lose their books, she said, it should not be up to taxpayers to pay for them.

Along with the demands of the law, there are some exceptions.

A district may adopt policies that allow it to waive all or a portion of the debt owed to the school because of special circumstances. In an instance when the parents cannot pay the debt, or when paying it might affect the health or security of the student, the school might not claim the money.

“We give kids opportunities to work it off. We put several different strategies in place in order to help them. We even offer some scholarships,” Ms. Kemhus added.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 09, 2004 edition of Education Week as New Oregon Law Targets Students’ Debts

Events

Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Boosting Student and Staff Mental Health: What Schools Can Do
Join this free virtual event based on recent reporting on student and staff mental health challenges and how schools have responded.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
Practical Methods for Integrating Computer Science into Core Curriculum
Dive into insights on integrating computer science into core curricula with expert tips and practical strategies to empower students at every grade level.
Content provided by Learning.com

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Curriculum More States Require Schools to Teach Cursive Writing. Why?
Technological advances notwithstanding, advocates give a long list of reasons for teaching students cursive.
5 min read
Photo of child practicing cursive writing.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Curriculum Computer Science Courses Are on the Rise—But Girls Are Still Half as Likely to Take It
Schools expanded the availability of foundational computer science classes, but stubborn gaps in access to those courses persist.
4 min read
Photograph of diverse group of primary school students using laptops in a bright classroom.
E+/Getty
Curriculum Many States Are Limiting How Schools Can Teach About Race. Most Voters Disagree
A majority of polled voters want students to learn about the history of racism and slavery in the United States and its legacy today.
4 min read
The "statue" of Michelle Obama, played by Kaylee Gray, talks to students during Black History Month's wax museum at Chestnut Grove Elementary School in Decatur, Ala., on Feb. 27, 2020. Instead of the usual assembly, Chestnut Grove students played the roles of famous black and white people who contributed to the civil rights movement and black people who have made significant contributions to history.
The "statue" of Michelle Obama, played by Kaylee Gray, talks to students during Black History Month's wax museum at Chestnut Grove Elementary School in Decatur, Ala., on Feb. 27, 2020.
Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily via AP
Curriculum Download DOWNLOADABLE: Choosing Grade School Books With Complex Representation of People and Topics
A new tool from The Education Trust helps educators think deeply about what complex representation of people, cultures, and topics means.
1 min read
Image of an open book, and a hand drawing a character of the content.
Canva