Resident wants answers from Board of Ed. on usage fee hike I wasn't aware that the Edison Board of Education has gone into the real estate business. We are a family where both parents have to work. We utilize the ABC/YAP (After/Before Care) program because it is convenient and frankly, our options are limited. We recently received a letter from the Edison Recreation Department outlining the new fees imposed by the Board of Education. My questions (and I get varying answers from the Board of Ed.) … "Is this 'usage' fee being imposed on all groups that utilize the schools? Are we now going to be paying a usage fee for our PTA/PTO, Girl and Boy Scout meetings? Are we now going to be charged to vote?" I've been informed that these groups are not going to be charged to rent space because they are community-based nonprofit organizations. If this is the Board of Education's reasoning, then please explain to the parents, the community and the Recreation Department why and when the ABC/YAP program became a for-profit/noncommunity-based program. Why are the people who utilize the schools for the ABC/YAP program being singled out by the Board of Education for a usage fee? Please don't reiterate that the budget wasn't passed and that the board has been mandated by the Township Council to cut costs. Imposing fees on the parents who utilize the ABC/YAP program, which is run by a community-based nonprofit organization, is not cutting costs. What are these fees going toward? It cannot be to open the schools early and close them later. It's not going toward heat and electric or the custodian's time, as the school is already open in the mornings (food deliveries are made early in the a.m., and our custodian and principal are there long before the 8:45 a.m. bell). The school is already open for after-school programs, and the custodian is there cleaning up long after the kids leave the ABC/YAP program at 6 p.m. There haven't been any changes to the furnishings or the floor. So what is this $30 per student, per a.m. session, and $30 per student per p.m. session, paying for? I called [David] Dickinson, [president of the Board of Education] - twice - last week and left a voice mail message and a message with the administrative assistant in [his] office. However, [he] has yet to return these calls. I'm sure that [he] has received quite a number of them. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss the aforementioned questions and learn the board's reasoning for imposing a usage fee on the already overtaxed and hard-working parents of Edison township. Please note, Mr. Dickinson, that I am not available during business hours - I'm working. Cheryl O'Neill Edison