In order for the school system to function, schools rely on fees paid by parents for classes and school. Typically, this system works well, and students pay their dues. However, De Soto High School has a problem. DHS has the highest unpaid dues in the school district, coming in at $26,720.62. Without dues to support itself, DHS is in trouble. This debt becomes increasingly problematic as the year goes on, and supplies are in more demand.

“We’ve made some progress with dues, but we still have some people who haven’t paid. It becomes a burden to the school district,” Principal Dave Morford said.

While there is little they can do, the school district has not turned a blind eye to DHS’s problems.

“The district tried to implement a collection service a couple of years ago. Kind of like some companies do if you write a bad check. It didn’t really work very well,” Morford said.

While there are usually unpaid dues at De Soto, this amount is atypical.

“It has gone up, but I would probably base that on issues with the economy. We always struggle with dues. We talk about a free public education, but it’s only free in the sense that it’s required,” Morford said.

There is a national program called Free and Reduced, which parents have to fill out a form for.

“What the Free and Reduced program does is, pending their application, they may have those dues waived or those lunch fee waved, or have those dues cut in half and those lunch fees cut in half,” Morford said.

While the debt is severe, there are several things we can do as a school. One way to cut down is to take care of your school books.

“You have to remember that you’re borrowing a book, just like you borrow a book from the library,” Morford said.

In addition, large amounts of silverware and trays are being thrown away at lunch.

“At lunch, instead of taking the extra step to put up the silverware, they just throw it away. We have dug hundreds of forks and spoons out of the trash. That’s laziness to me. If someone won’t take one more step to put it where it’s supposed to go,” Morford said.