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Show ' 4, t hi TUESDAY DAVIS COUNTY AUGUST 31, 1993 VOLUME 102 NUMBER 57 06690419 841 UTAH 467 STATE 300 g E SLC, UT FIFTY CENTS PRESS ASSOC 84111 Free education is expensive in Davis County . athletics, duplicate schedules, class By MARK EDDINGTON Staff Writer changes, pictures, : FARMINGTON With a wide array of fees covering everything from textbooks to uniforms to student parking, parents registering their children for middle or high school have come to realize that there really is no such thing as a free public education. As one parent wryly observed: A parent can go broke paying for their kid's free public education. While general tax revenues continue to fund teacher salaries and most of the basics, it is simply not enough to pay for the ever expanding list of activities that serve to enrich the academic experience. To make up for the funding gap, Davis and other school districts are increasingly turning to fees, and parents are feeling the pinch. Take Mickie Johnson, for example. The Kaysville mother-of-eighas two children attending Davis High School and two more attending Kaysville Junior High. .Total registration bill for the 1993-9- 4 school year: Over $300. Add that amount to the money Mrs. Johnson and her husband Warren pay to support two children on LDS missions and the fact their's is a household, And it's pretty hard to do even the basics, Mrs. Johnson said. At least the Johnsons only had to pay for the basics. Their $220 out of pocket expense for their two high school age daughters was limited to paying for yearbooks, activity cards, parking and drivers extra-curricul- ar ht one-inco- education. consider They themselves lucky they didn't have to pay for chcerleading or the drill team. The Davis School District has a $450 ceiling on the amount parents of cheerleaders or drill team can members spend, but Superintendent Richard Kcndell ackowledges that for some parents the limit is much higher. Parents routinely call and tell me they are paying a $ ,000. And some parents are very active in getting around it without anyone knowing about it, he said. One mother recalls paying over $1,200 for each of her daughters on the Woods Cross Chantcllcs. And the members of Bountiful High School Mandonclles tool around on $400 unicycles. But it isn't just the drill team or cheerlcading. There are fees for instrument 1 rentals, participation choir uniforms, and insurance for student directories, student folders, lockers, lock combination changes, P.E. lockers, cap and gown, textbook rental, lab, materials for shop and just about everything else. Parents complaints, and fear that the fee system will create a two-tieducation system one for the rich and one for the poor has brought the issue to the state Legislature and Office of Education, both of which have formed committees to study the fee issue which critics er have long suggested is out of control. There have been laws to protect low income families from exessive fees. Families qualifying for free student lunches, receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) automatically qualify to have the fees waived. Beyond that, parents suffering from setbacks such as medical emergencies or the loss of a job could appeal for fee relief, lut until Third District Court Judge John Rokich's ruling last year in support of parents who filed a class action suit against several school districts over fees, many districts were loathe to grant fee waivers even when required by law to do so. I shouldn't say they were heartless, but they were not terribly sympathetic, said Carol Lear, an education and legislation specialist with the state Office of Education. Rokich's ruling now requires the schools to grant waivers to all eligible families and to maintain strict confidentiality. The state is also required to withhold money from school districts that violate the law. School fees can only be levied for students in grades seven through 12. Since the ruling the amount of waivers has increased substantially. The waiver amount in the Davis County School District, for example, increased from $48,124 in 1991-9- 2 to $100,079 last school year. Kendall said the increase is directly related to the enhanced visibility of fee waivers. People used to go to the principal and say we have no money to pay our fees.' They would produce some evidence of their circumutanees and a waiver would be granted. But that's different than receving a letter that says you are entitled to a fee waiver if you meet certain criteria. The publicity has raised the acceptance of the fee waiver process. SEE FEE ON A-- 3 Monday was the first day of school for most of Davis County's 58,599 students. A few students are on d school. Those nervous kids coming back found new classrooms, and teachers and tried to find some friends from last year. Elementary school year-roun- children account for 31,097 of the students in Davis County; with 14,425 in junior high and 12,386 in high school. Some students were greeted with lines on the first day back, while other simply walked in and started another year of routine schooling. He made the explosives for his friends 1 bomb maker arrested 4-year- -old By MARK EDDINGTON Staff Writer A WEST BOUNTIFUL West Bountiful boy who was actively involved in making explosives for his friends to detonate was arrested recently and taken to the Moweda youth detention home. Two more male juveniles who detonated the pipe bombs and assisted the suspect could also face charges, said Police Chief Wayne Jeppson. The suspect was arrested Aug. 21 after the father of one of his - S'' v friends told police that his son had exploded a bomb in a vacant field east of City Hall. A second bomb failed to detonate properly. I think the kid just got scared and told his father, Jeppson said. I think he realized that if something went haywire he would be up the proverbial creek. Subsequent investigation conducted by West Bountiful police and federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm agents led to the arrest of the suspect who was actively manufacturing the devices. Agents also found components for six more bombs in a Bountiful home, where one of the suspects friends lived. Jeppson said the Bountiful youth had been injured when one of the pipe bombs exploded prematurely last spring. His mother, who took him to the hospital for sutures, was evidently aware of the incident but did not call police. Afterwards, the youth refused to detonate any more devices but allowed the suspect to store and assemble the components in his home. Components for pipe bombs are easily accessible for youth. That combined with the bombs' instability and unreliability can prove to be a deadly combination. Some fuses, for example, will Human error cause of refinery death? NORTH SALT LAKE--Investigati- on into an explosion and fire that killed a worker at the flying J Inc. refinery Saturday light is continuing. Some are saying it was due to errors in judgment by plant workers that the accident occurred. Jeff White, 41, Bluffdale, died when the pipe he was welding exploded and burst into flames engulfing White and the platform on which he was working. White thought the pipe was empty. Two of his coworkers were unable to get to White and had to hurry down a stairwell to save their own lives. The unanswered question is why was there fuel pipeline? in the I, A spokesperson for Enoch Smith construction, the employer of White, said the investigation is far from over. "OSHA officials were on the scene Monday and they still don't have any answers. We're still waiting for reports. Until we have some evidence we have no comment," she said. Whites coworkers are blaming Flying J for the accident. Errol Hohrein was quoted by the Salt Lake Tribune as blaming Flying J management. "They were in too big a hurry to get this thing up and going before Labor Day. They were in a competitive situation and they pushed." Hohrein was unavailable for comment Monday. Jeff Utley, Flying J's plant manager was also unavailable Monday to respond to Hohrein's accusations. According to refinery Utley is the only authorized Flying J spokesperson. personnel, South Davis Fire District Captain Paul Richard? said he believes the accident was caused by "human error. There was fuel put into that line and it shouldn't have been there." Richards said there were over 200 gallons of diesel at DAVIS when White touched his torch to the pipe. "He didnt have a chance,' said Richards. He added that Hohrein and other workers spent Saturday night talking to stress debriefing mental health specialists and the medical examiner. "There are automatic safety checks on the system and the line had been shut down. For some reason, and OSHA doesn't know why, an employee of Flying J turned the valve and charged the system," said Richards. He added that the investigation by his department and the medical 200 pounds per square inch of SEE FIRE ON pressure in the line which ignited A-- 2 LAYTON -- - A routine traffic stop for an expired registration led West to the arrest of a Valley City man confiscation of small and the user-quaniti- ty amount of marijuana and LSD, Layton police reported. Jerry Stanley Joosten was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with possession of marijuana and LSD, possession of drug paraphernelia, fraudulent registration and having an expired registration. Sgt. Rex Brimhall, said Joosten was stopped on Antelope Drive Thursday afternoon by an officer who saw he was driving with an ATF agents confiscated the bomb components. The suspect has been charged with the manufacture and distribution of an Police are explosive device. uncertain whether the suspect was also exploding the bombs. OSEfflOffiT NEWS SPORTS PIGSKIN OPENERS: Braves, 'Cats, Vikes win. SOCCER PREVIEW: Region page B3 Layton Junior 1HI OPINION page A5 and letters to the Editor. l11 SHOWCASE USA brings dance to Bountiful. page C2 AREA WEDDINGS page C3 LOCAL MISSIONARIES, St. Olafs celebrates 50th. page C5 Brimhall said the misdemeanor drug charges would probably be enhanced to felonies. Joosten was arraigned in Second Circuit Court on Friday. n CLASSIFIEDS page B4 consumer marketplace. of High, inA CHURCH DAVIS COUNTY'S BEST Because of Joosten's arrest for North l!l1 LIFE A routine check revealed the suspect had two warrants out for his arrest. Police searched Joosten and found a bag of marijuana. En route to the jail, an officer in the patrol car noticed a handcuffed Joosten trying to stick his hands in his pants pocket. Brimhall said police searched the suspect more thoroughly at the jail, finding 27 tabs of LSD. Evidently he was trying to get rid of it, Brimhall said. drugs occurred within 1000 yards page B1 season begins Tuesday. Cyclops, expired registration decal. Staff Writer immediately. This is a bomb expert's worst nightmare, that someone is going to be foolish enough to try and do since they have no expertise, Jeppson said. COST OF SAVING LIVES worth the price in schools. Drugs seized in Layton By MARK EDDINGTON COUNTY smolder and burn for a long time before the device explodes. At other times, the fuses burn quickly and the bombs will explode almost WEATHER Mostly sunny and mild on Tuesday. HI: 87 LO: 56 Ah r.i ,B |