I thought only the government gave unnecessary fees, not high schools. This year Phoenix Military Academy has changed a lot around: more sets of rules and more opportunities but less resources. This year, students were not given Chromebooks to take home, yet they’re still on our fees.

PMA students are outraged. We don’t have Chromebooks of our own anymore, but we’re still paying for them. It enrages students but parents even more so because they’re the ones paying the fees, which still includes the non-existent Chromebook.

On the contrary, school administrators feel as if they’re doing us justice. Chromebooks are still available to students in most classes, via a Chromebook cart.

While it is true that they’re still available for our use, we use them for instruction less now, than we did when we had them specifically for ourselves. In most classes, it is a hassle for teachers when every student has to get up and get a Chromebook AND to make sure that they’re ALL returned. This leads teachers to just go the old fashioned way, with pen and paper work instead of digital work. So we don’t use them as much, but we still pay for them.

Of even greater importance, most of the senior class owes $1000+ in fees. We pay $75 for the “Chromebook” fee on top of that. This is extra money that some of us don’t just have lying around. This year, we were told that the $75 fee was for internet and other Chromebook expenses but for the past three years, we were told that the $75 fee was to pay off the Chromebook. Seniors are especially upset because we got them new as freshmen. So this leads us to question figures of authority.

Finally, the main reason why students are upset is because we were promised a Chromebook after we graduate. As freshmen, we were told by school administration that the Chromebook would be ours. Most people decorated theirs and made it their own because they thought it would belong to them for however long they wanted.

As a PMA student who has to pay this ridiculous fee, I am angry. A fee is still being paid for something that no longer belongs to me. Hopefully the school will go back to the old method of letting students keep their Chromebooks. If not, I’m sure parents and guardians will protest it, which means more trouble for Phoenix Military Academy.