SIMI VALLEY : Adult School Fee to Double in Fall

In an effort to generate more revenue, Simi Valley Unified School District officials have decided to increase the adult school’s $10 class registration fee to $20 this fall.

The fee increase at the Simi Valley Adult School is the first since 1984.

Only 44% of the adult school’s 13,000 students pay a registration fee, because the state Education Code prohibits the school from charging a registration fee for English as a second language, high school diploma, reading and handicapped student programs, officials said.

“We’re hoping we’re not going to lose students,” said Sondra Jones, the school’s director of adult education. “It’s still a real bargain.”

Registration fees for people 55 and older who take classes at the adult school campus will increase from $5 to $10 per class each semester.

Those who take courses at the Simi Valley Senior Center will not be charged a registration fee, since the center does not charge rent to the adult school.

And for the first time the school will charge private vocational rehabilitation agencies a onetime processing fee of $400 and a monthly fee of $100 per student, not to exceed $1,600 per student a year.

Such agencies, which assist people who need vocational training, previously were not charged a fee but contributed to the cost of the students’ textbooks.

School officials said a recent survey showed that other adult schools are charging between $6,000 and $8,000 for each vocational training program.

Simi Valley Adult School has about 85 vocational rehabilitation students enrolled at any given time, officials said.

The increased costs, effective in September, are necessary to maintain state-of-the-art vocational courses, officials said.

The school offers courses in the medical field, including X-ray technology and physical therapy, as well as courses in welding, computer data entry and cosmetology.