Montgomery County students and recent graduates may owe in excess of $1 million to their high schools for lost textbooks and overdue fees, putting many at risk of missing out on end-of-the-year activities, and putting schools at risk of being left on the hook.
Records show students owe anywhere from about $27,000 at Thomas Wootton High School to more than $68,000 at renowned Montgomery Blair, a sum many officials blame on advanced-level textbooks costing upward of $100.
School district officials wouldn’t reveal the total debt to The Examiner, but if the $49,000 average based on the five schools held true, the district’s 24 high schools would have student debt across all four grades of nearly $1.2 million. Since 2001, the district has nearly doubled its offering of college prep courses and has greatly expanded International Baccalaureate programs. The initiative has been cheered by many parents and educators, but has come at a cost.
A new computer science book for college prep courses costs $103; a psychology text costs $68.
As the end of the year approaches, students are scrambling to find books and clear accounts as teachers create lists of dollars owed. A new policy instated at Rockville High School disallows students from taking a final exam until they’ve turned in the textbook or paid for it.
Like Rockville, high schools can deny privileges such as prom and graduation tickets. Legally, however, they cannot hold back a student’s diploma, meaning some students will saddle the schools with charges for books shoved under a bed or left on an airplane. School officials say they do everything in their power to recoup the expenses, adding that new textbooks are considerably more expensive than previous years’ versions.
“There’s no doubt that there’s quite a bit [of student debt] out there, and it’s an issue,” said Montgomery County schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison.
School business managers say they do everything in their power to work with students and families who are struggling to pay back debt. Even so, as they began Monday to put in orders for next year’s textbooks, money was tighter than usual.
“You name it in terms of spending, and it’s up in the air right now,” Harrison said.
