I think it might be different at our school, The usual voluntary payment (about $140) is not voluntary. Plus we pay for stationary/pens/glue sticks etc. So I pay about $250 per child. Then there are building and computer improvement fees, which are voluntary. They equal about another $100 per child, and I just can't afford it But no other kids will suffer, I don't believe, as in having to use stubs of pencils. There are always heaps of pencils and things left over at the end of the year which get divided up amongst the kids and sent home.