State agrees to monitor ban on student fees
Parents charged fees can seek reimbursement
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Strapped-for-cash school districts will no longer be able to try to balance their budgets on the backs of students through charges and fees.
The ACLU of Southern California announced a settlement Thursday with the state over a suit that attorneys had filed on behalf of families illegally billed, sometimes for hundreds of dollars, for a range of things: books, course materials, lab costs, lockers, musical instruments, sports fees, uniforms. The encompassing agreement calls on the state to monitor school distircts for violations, create a complaint system to reimburse families for improper charges, and post notices of new state regulations in schools. The annual district