SUFFOLK
As the cost of damaged and missing textbooks mounts, Suffolk school officials are trying to crack down on offenders.
The division is waiting for students to return or pay for about $180,000 worth of textbooks issued this past school year. That amount could rise as schools continue to submit their inventory lists.
Other local divisions are also in the process of tallying lost and damaged textbooks.
At the Suffolk School Board meeting this month, Superintendent Milton Liverman said that missing materials have become "a significant budget item."
Letters are sent home automatically when a book is not returned, but they don't always yield a response.
"I don't think a taxpayer should be held accountable for paying for all these books," Holy Neck representative Enoch Copeland said during the meeting.
Students "have to learn to be responsible for themselves," Copeland said. "Free textbooks, that's really a privilege."
Administrators are considering penalties, including using a collection agency to recoup costs and barring student offenders from parking on campus.
"We're looking for teeth, something with teeth," said James Thorsen, executive director of facilities and planning.
Thorsen said school officials are taking several factors into account, "How far can we go? How much can we do legally?"
For example, officials can't deny a student textbooks the following school year.
The division launched a new electronic system a couple of months ago to better manage textbook inventory. The TIPWeb software tracks each textbook down to the student.
Before, division officials knew the school where a book was assigned but relied on teachers to identify which student received it.
"It definitely helps with better accountability," said Latricia Wilkerson, textbook and records technician.
Wilkerson said the division mostly deals with lost textbooks, the number of which was not available. The books average about $60 each, though some books, such as a high school vocational textbook, can cost as much as $120 to as little as $15 for an elementary math textbook.
Until the notice comes in the mail, some parents may not know that their child hasn't returned a textbook, said Terry Napier, assistant director of facilities and planning. His department oversees textbook distribution.
Students are welcome to return or pay for books at their school, even during the summer months, he said.
Hattie Brown Garrow, (757) 222-5562, hattie.brown@pilotonline.com
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el23456
Amen el23456! No book = no ball game. And that includes any and all extracurricular activities ... Sports, Clubs, dances, PROM. If they owe a book, they can't do ANYTHING except go to class. And yes, they should be barred from driving to school too. Do all that, and you'll get your book back EVERYTIME.
That's a ridiculous amount
That's a ridiculous amount of loss in one year. Those students may not be able to be denied books the following year, but can they be denied access to extra-curricular things like clubs, teams or events? No book = no ball game.
Typical
I hope the powers-that-be in Suffolk will actually do something here. Find a way to inconvenience the slacker parents enough and maybe the books will be returned. Charging a monetary deposit at the beginning of the school year that would be refunded if and when the books are returned seems like a good idea. Also, Why not turn the names of the parents of the students who didn't return their books over to collection agencies? Most of these folks probably don't pay taxes anyway, so they won't care if the schools try to re-coup the missing funds from tax revenue. Unless it affects them personally, these people obviously don't give a hoot about whether their child is being responsible or not.