Facing the Music

Who says public school is free?

This year alone, Ofek Hayon, a 42-year-old financial planner from Henderson, will spend $18,734 to send his two daughters there. Many other parents in the valley can sympathize as they pull out their checkbooks.

"Everything's so expensive, I was surprised," says Ofek, chatting in between cheers at a Coronado High School football game in which his 15-year-old, Alexa, is marching with the band. (Alyson, 12, attends Webb Middle School.)

"I write a check here and there -- pay the music teacher, buy Alyson a cheerleading outfit -- but seeing it all added up on paper is a little much," says Lory, Ofek's 43-year-old wife, as she adds forgotten items to the list accompanying this story.

"And we're pretty frugal," Ofek adds. "We cut coupons and don't shop for clothes unless they're on sale."

Four years ago, Ofek and Lory, who works part time as a dietitian, relocated from Monterey, Calif., expressly to better their kids' education.

"We didn't want to send them to a public school there and suffer the consequences," Ofek says. "The public schools in California are completely falling apart. But private school would have cost $40,000 per year, between the two girls. And there was no way for us to do it."

But while neither Coronado nor Webb charges tuition, Ofek says, "there's a lot of supplies they don't provide." For instance, Alexa's flute costs $1,200.

"That was kind of expensive," Ofek says. "But she was taking it so seriously, we had to shell it out."

At least the purchase eliminates Alexa's $19-per-month flute rental.

"That's what we thought," Ofek says. "But we still rent her a flute, because when she's on the field, we don't want an expensive flute out there. The kids all throw their instruments on the stands, or they set them down on the football field where somebody can step on them."

Alyson plays flute in her concert band, too, so she needs her own rental instrument. And, as a member of a private University of Nevada, Las Vegas cheerleader training program, she requires a uniform.

"When we were kids," says Ofek, who grew up in Encino, Calif., "all the instruments were given by the schools. The only expenses I remember were clothing, lunchboxes, the occasional lunch tickets and 15-cent milk cartons.

"And I remember my mom gave me five dollars for gym shorts."

Paying for school means personal sacrifices for Ofek and Lory. Vacations to New York and abroad are now short road trips, taken in cars not quite as new as they'd like. (Ofek drives a 2000 Chrysler 300M, Lory a 2005 Ford Expedition.)

In addition, Ofek has given up his favorite hobby. As a private pilot with 800 air hours, he once leased planes regularly. That's how he met Lory -- by flying her from Van Nuys to Santa Barbara in California on a 1988 pleasure trip.

"A friend of mine asked if he could bring his girlfriend along with her friend," Ofek remembers.

But, since Alexa was born, Ofek hasn't navigated anything more exciting than a freeway.

"Airplane or education?" he asks, holding up both hands like a scale, the education hand dropping further.

The Hayons believe it's all worth it.

"I come from the school of thought that education is number one," says Ofek, who adds that extracurricular activities are just as important as homework in the big picture.

"In order to get into the right college these days, you don't need to just show a 4.0 (grade-point average)," he says. "You need to show that you do extracurricular over and beyond. If Alexa wants to go out of state, like to UCLA, it's very competitive."

In addition, Ofek says, after-school activities keep kids on the straight and narrow like nothing else.

"We believe in the band," he says. "We know all the kids and the parents. We know who Alexa hangs out with, and that ties in with education clearly. We know a group of kids who aren't involved in anything, and their parents are complaining that their kids are smoking pot and getting involved with the wrong kids."

A text message interrupts Ofek's train of thought. It's from Alexa, who's using her cell phone on the football field.

"She needs a bottle of water," Ofek reports. He excuses himself to visit the concession stand.

"Add that to the list," Lory says.