Would you sign a "textbook contract" for your child's school books?

Question

We were just sent home a "Textbook Contract" that the school says the parents must sign that will obligate us to pay for lost textbooks. For the four books my 5th grader will have this year it is over $300.00.

I guess I don't have a problem replacing a book if it is lost BUT I can't stand being told I must sign a legal document obligating me in order for my child to have access to schoolbooks. We have never had this document before so I'm not sure if this is common in elementary school.

Answer 1

well i know in my school it was an unwritten rule that you replace a book if lost or pay for whatever damages there are to the book, unless they were older. at the beginning of the year we have to go through the books and see if anything major is rong with them and write it down and if there was something else at the end of the year, our teachers would inspect them, then we would have to pay. i know one year i lost one of my books in my freinsds house fire and the still made me pay for the book. we didnt have to sign anything though

Answer 2

I can't say I'm surprised to hear they've done this.  Schools must loose a lot of money every year from kids loosing books and parents refusing to pay.  If they've resorted to a contract, your school is no different - they just don't want to spend their already tight budgets replacing these books the kids should have taken better care of.