A closer look at education
The Dayton Daily News contacted more than 35 school districts in the Dayton region requesting information about pay-to-participate fees for athletics, clubs and other extracurricular activities. We are committed to bringing providing in-depth and important information about the region’s school districts.
As school districts struggle with decreasing budgets, officials are looking for alternatives to fund extracurricular activities rather than subsidizing them from their general funds. For many districts, especially in light of recent levy defeats, that means increasing the costs for participating in everything from athletics to band to clubs.
Annually, districts spend hundreds of thousands of dollars from their general funds to support extracurricular activities — primarily athletics — for coaches’ salaries and transportation.
This newspaper analyzed data provided by more than 20 school districts in the region and discovered that some districts’ fees will cost as much as $750 per sport or have doubled. In some cases, there no longer is a family cap, meaning that there is no longer a limit on what a family can be charged for the school year.
John Charlton, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education, said it’s a “local decision” whether school districts choose to charge students to participate in extracurricular activities.
“We want school districts to provide the best education possible for students,” Charlton said. “It’s how the local administration, school board and community feels what is the best education. Obviously, some school districts put a lot of time and effort in supporting extracurriculars. Others leave it up to the communities to do so.”
Pay-to-participate fees are among the highest for athletics, but school districts also charge different rates for other extracurriculars, including cheerleading, marching band, show choir, drill team and clubs.
Huber Heights athletes will pay the most in the region at $750 per sport, while other school districts do not charge anything to participate in extracurricular activities.
Hamilton City Schools is in the lower half of fees, charging high school students $100 and middle school students $75 per sport.
The district relies heavily on participation fees and gate receipts to fund its programs, athletic director Mike Dellapina said.
“The fee is a necessary evil,” Dellapina said. “But at the same time, it does cost money to operate schools and offer the programs that we do. We want to keep them as low as possible so kids get the most out of the experience.”
In Centerville, participation fees are increasing by 50 percent next year because of November’s levy failure, according to Superintendent Tom Henderson.
For band and winter guard members, that means next year’s fee is $113 — in addition to the money parents spend to help pay for uniforms, equipment and travel expenses to haul the equipment.
Band boosters president Margaret Buttram said the school’s participation fee — which offsets supplemental contracts and student transportation — is separate from what the boosters charge. The general fund minimally subsidizes the band programs for sheet music and minor instrument repairs, Buttram said.
The Centerville Athletic Booster Club does not charge additional fees to students, according to president Clara Osterhage. But depending on the sport, individual equipment needs vary, which can be costly for parents, she said.
“We’re in a bad place as a state relative to school funding because the burdens are falling on the parents,” Osterhage said. “It’s expensive. But for our community, it’s worth it in many ways simply because it gives kids something to do at the end of the day and it may keep them off the streets. There are incredible benefits.”
As part of Huber Heights’ $6.4 million in cuts approved in January, participation fees increased — $225 to $750 per student per sport with no family cap; extracurriculars (band, cheerleading, drill team) from $185 to $225; and co-curriculars (student council, clubs) from $55 to $75.
“We decided we need to preserve the general fund for academics,” Superintendent Sue Gunnell said. “We’ve cut so many staff members — more than 100 teachers — and there needs to be a focus and priority on the general fund. It has be education.”
Gunnell said the goal is to make athletics and extracurriculars self-sufficient. It costs $771,500 out of the general fund to support them, and treasurer Ann Bernardo said participation fees are projected to bring in approximately $580,000 next year. Fees generated $207,000 for the 2011-12 school year.
“We were considering reducing or eliminating athletics all together, but the goal was to continue to provide opportunities for students,” Gunnell said.
Establishing next year’s fees in January allowed families to begin saving for the 2013-14 school year, Gunnell. Fees must be paid in full before the official start of the season.
Davana Nighswander has three sons in the Huber Heights school district, and none of them plan to play football next school year after they played this past year, she said. The primary reason is the cost, since she brings home the only income for the family.
“I told them they could play, but my kids are the type of kids who’d feel bad because they know I could have used that money to pay other bills,” Nighswander said. “It’s kind of a sad situation that you have to make a decision like that now.”
Jay Minton, Huber Heights’ athletic director and head football coach, said the district is ramping up its fundraising efforts to offset the increase in participation fees. The athletic department has set aside funds in its budget to hire Florida-based Prometheus Sports for $2,500 a month as a consultant to the district’s “major” fundraising work, Minton said.
Although plans aren’t finalized yet, Minton said they will include using social media and organizing alumni campaigns to raise money for every student in every program.
“A lot of people know what’s happening, but reality hasn’t sunk in wholeheartedly,” Minton said. “We understand it’s a tough thing for families to do. We’ll tackle it head on and help the district any way we can.”
Steve Blair, a Huber Heights resident, has a daughter who graduated from Wayne last year and was a member of the tennis team. He also has a son in the seventh grade.
Blair said the question school officials need to ask themselves is, “Do you want teachers or do you want sports to continue?”
“Teachers, of course, because you’re there to learn,” he said. “There is no real in between. I’m not against it, as long as the funds are there. Obviously there’s no funds there, so something’s got to go.”
Fairborn’s pay-to-play fees are expected to more than triple next year to $500 per student, per sport, with no family cap since the district’s 11.7-mill emergency levy failed earlier this month. Band will increase to $200, while club fees have not been determined.
The $500 would help “offset the cost to operate that program” but not cover the entire cost, he said. It costs between $550,000 and $600,000 annually to operate extracurricular activities. About $110,000 has been collected this year from participation fees.
“Anytime there’s an increase, there’s always a worry about the strain it’s going to cause,” Beavers said. “We’re very concerned about that, but we don’t have any other options at this point.”
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