More+Schools+Assess+Fee+to+Play+Sports

= More schools assess fee to play sports = = Levies on students due to tight budgets =

=By Anya Sostek and Mary Niederberger,= =//Published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette//= =//4/25/11//=

=High school sports are an integral part of many Western Pennsylvania communities. But increasingly, they're coming with a price tag.= =In its preliminary budget passed earlier this month, the Seneca Valley school board approved a $75 fee for students per athletic activity, not to exceed $225 per family. Wednesday night, the West Mifflin school board voted to delay hiring coaches for fall sports while it investigated similar "pay-to-play" fees.= =Athletic fees have been common in some areas of the country for decades. But until recently, they've been relatively rare in Western Pennsylvania.= =With school districts facing massive shortfalls because of state budget cuts and economic pressures such as rising pension costs and declining tax revenues, districts are looking for new ways to raise money and cut expenses.= ="At this point, I would take anything as revenue," said West Mifflin Superintendent Janet Sardon. Last month, the board voted to eliminate 52 jobs, including teachers, and still has a $2 million budget hole. "[Pay-to-play] is not going to bring in a huge amount of money, but it will help."= =Athletic fees started in California and New England in the early 1970s as a result of state budget issues, said Scott Smith, an associate professor of physical education and sports management at Central Michigan University.= =For decades, the fees remained isolated in a few areas of the country, said Mr. Smith, who has tracked pay-to-play fees for decades. In Ohio, for example, the number of districts charging such fees stayed steady around 20 percent from 1990 to 2000. But Mr. Smith estimatiesthat about half of Ohio districts now charge athletic fees.= ="There's a rise in the number of districts that are looking at this and implementing fees -- I would say it's a meteoric rise," he said.= =A 2005 study from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association found that about a third of their member districts reported charging athletic participation fees, with 80 percent of the fees below $50.= =While the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association doesn't specifically track athletic fees, its administrators do anecdotally see an increase.= ="It's growing from where we've seen it 10 years ago, but it's still an exception to the norm," said assistant executive director Mark Byers.= =In the Seneca Valley School District, board members certainly weren't eager to charge parents for their children to play sports. But they felt it was better than some of the other options.= ="We basically had the perfect budget storm this year," said board member Eric Gordon. "Nobody likes what's going on right now."= =In addition to the $75 per student per sport, up to a family maximum of $225 per year, the district plans to charge $25 a year to use the activity bus, up to a $75 family maximum.= =For non-athletic activities, the district plans to charge $25 per student, not to exceed $75 per family per year, as well as $35 ($105 family maximum) for students in grades four through eight participating in intramural activities.= =It's a fee structure that Mr. Gordon believes is likely to spread to surrounding districts.= ="Most of the districts around us are facing tough budget situations," he said. "If they don't already have athletic activity fees, they probably will soon."= =In Bethel Park, for example, pay-to-play hasn't been discussed at recent public sessions on the district's budget, but it is on the table for consideration, said spokeswoman Vicki Flotta.= ="When you have to cut $928,000 from the budget, everything is up for grabs including pay-to-play or more likely pay-to-participate because we would include all activities," she said. "These are difficult decisions and we are trying to make the best of it."= =And if more districts impose activity fees, they will probably stick around. As with many fees implemented in times of fiscal austerity, athletic fees often remain even when district fortunes improve, said Mr. Smith of Central Michigan University.= = = =Mr. Smith imposed a $50 athletic fee when he was athletic director in the Wichita, Kan., school district in 1994 -- a fee that is still charged there.= =What has changed over the years is the amount of some of the athletic fees, said Mr. Smith.= ="No longer am I seeing districts talking about a modest $25, $50, even $75 fee," he said. "I've seen districts talking about $350 or $400 per sport. Those are the kind of numbers that are going to drive kids out of the program."= =As of now, the proposed fees in Western Pennsylvania are still at the lower end of the spectrum.= =Mr. Gordon believes that Seneca Valley has set the fees low enough that parents still will be able to enroll their children in extracurricular activities.= =But the impact of any fee concerns critics of athletic fees.= ="Essentially what it does is exclude poor kids," said Dick Flanary, senior director for leadership programs and services at the National Association for Secondary School Principals, headquartered in Washington, D.C. "From a moral standpoint, balancing the budget on the backs of poor kids is not a practice we support."= =Many districts charging athletic fees exempt students who receive free or reduced-cost lunches. But Mr. Flanary said that still leaves many students falling through the cracks, because as many as 30 percent of students who could qualify for free and reduced lunches decline to do so because of the stigma.= =In some of Western Pennsylvania's lower-income school districts, officials say athletic fees just aren't an option -- even if the alternative is eliminating some sports.= =James Manley, acting superintendent of the Sto-Rox School District, formerly superintendent in Pine-Richland, said the pay-to-play concept works in wealthier districts where families can afford the fees but can't be applied in a district such as Sto-Rox, where 87 percent of the students qualify for the federal free-lunch program.= ="With our income levels, it would be very difficult to ask people to pay fees," he said. "Students would not be able to play."= = = =In Sto-Rox, teams have been eliminated because of costs, including all middle school and some high school sports.= ="There is no cross-country, golf, swimming, soccer, lacrosse or wrestling here," Mr. Manley said. "Instead of charging a fee, what we have done is keep it to just the basics, just enough to keep the kids involved."= =In Steel Valley, the board briefly discussed charging fees for activities and sports, but the discussion didn't last long for fear that the fees would exclude too many students, said school director Mike Terrick.= =Instead, he said, the board, which is facing a $3 million shortfall in its budget -- a combination of district deficit and a $2.4 million cut to state funding -- is considering cutting sports programs with the fewest participants.= =In McKeesport, the school board president, Wayne Washowich, said the subject had never come up for discussion despite the fact that the district is struggling to close a $5.6 million budget gap and considering eliminating 90 jobs, including 35 teachers.= =Mr. Washowich said officials understand that many students wouldn't be able to pay the fees and would not participate in sports or activities if it required any payment.= ="We might as well tell the kids, 'Go ahead and walk the streets because you can't play,' and we'd never do that."= =Mr. Washowich said sports and other activities are what keep many students coming to class and keeping their grades up so that they can participate. Without that incentive, he fears, attendance and grades would drop.= ="Some things are worth more than money," he said.=

=//Anya Sostek: asostek@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1308. Mary Niederberger: mniederberger@post-gazette.com or 412-851-1512.//=

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