School districts get money through state and local taxes, money that pays for everything from teacher salaries to lunchroom food.
But the onset of the ongoing financial crisis helped trigger shrinking revenue and shrinking budgets, both inside households and in school district boardrooms.
An increasingly popular way for schools to generate funds comes through athletic participation fees at high schools, a route most area high schools have taken.
In most communities in the area, a majority of each tax assessment already goes to fund the school district. Is it fair that families of athletes are forced to pay a little extra? And where does that money go?
Join the club
School District 208, which includes Riverside Brookfield High School, is just getting around to introducing athletic fees. After much discussion, it was decided that charging participation fees was the best way for RB athletics to continue in the same capacity as usual.
“We are one of the few schools that did not have a pay-to-play system in place,” RB athletic director Art Ostrow said. “Financial situations within school districts have gotten more and more difficult, and this is a way to help out. Every school in our conference (Metro Suburban) does it, so it was just a matter of time before we got on board.”
Lemont School District 210 is also implementing fees for the first time this school year, though the school board had been discussing it long before putting it into practice. In the past, the school district was able to increase revenue while cutting expenditures, which meant no fees.
But charging extra for athletic participation is nothing new. When current Geneva athletic director Jim Kafer held that same role at Antioch High School, the fee was $150 per sport. That was in 1999. Most school districts already had a pay-to-play system in place. During his time at Geneva, Kafer has seen the participation fee go from $35 to $90 to its current level of $140 per sport.
“With the crunch for resources, you don’t want to have to cut back on textbooks or things within the curriculum,” Kafer said.
Why fee, not free?
Parents sending their kids through high school right now might remember the days when the sports they played had no fees and were simply part of the high school experience. There might have been a small insurance or equipment charge, but other than that, taxes covered the rest of the costs.
But the current state of the economy has pinched purse strings everywhere. Gas prices are as high as ever, meaning it costs more for high school teams to get to their away contests. Textbooks and cafeteria food aren’t cheap either. It all adds up to more costs for a school district while the income from taxes remains relatively steady.
“If we had our way, we would have no fees,” Glenbard South athletic director John Treiber said. “But we understand it is a result of the change in our economy.”
Parents may not like the extra cost on top of their property taxes, but the only people required to pay are the ones who want to play sports. Paying a small fee is certainly favored when the alternative is cutbacks.
In Batavia, which has one of the highest fees in the area, the parents actually asked to pay more.
“We increased our fees for this school year,” said Kris Monn, assistant superintendent for finance at Batavia Public Schools 101. “The parents came to a school board meeting and said instead of reducing anything, increase the fees and let the parents pay for it.”
Parents in the area are in line with trends in other part of the country. In Zionsville, Ind., a suburb of Indianapolis, the fee is $200 per sport. It’s the same cost in Eau Claire, Wisc. Closer to home, Naperville Central charges up to $100 per sport, Warren High School charges $60 per sport and Lisle High School anywhere from $49 to $93 per sport.
Parents’ perspective
Scott Miller is the head basketball coach at Glenbard East, but also a parent of a recently-graduated son who played basketball and a daughter who is an athlete for the Rams. Both have been heavily involved on high level club teams, which made the athletic fee at East more bearable.
“With regard to paying, you are used to it,” Miller said. “I think the higher level you go with the travel teams, the more it will cost you money. I think our starters and the kids that play a lot see that.”
In Geneva, senior Jake Mills plays football and wrestles, which means his parents are paying nearly $300 for sports. They don’t mind the extra charge.
“It’s kind of a necessary evil,” said Roger Mills, Jake Mills’ father. “The schools are strapped for cash as it is. In a lot of countries the schools don’t even have sports, they farm all that out to clubs. We get the best of both worlds where it’s more supervised in a school setting but it’s also a high level of athletics. If we have to pay a little extra, that’s fine.”|
The Kochevar twins, Kyle and Brooke, are standout golfers at Glenbard West. Their father, Dan, a golf instructor, supports the pay-to-play system as long as the fee is reasonable.
“The $130 for participation in a sport for two to four months is very reasonable,” Dan Kochevar said.
“If you were to do a cost per day, it would not be very much. I am in the golf business and I see how much golf courses have to do to accommodate high school teams. This is more than a fair price to play.”
Even parents who will be paying the fees for the first time seem to be on board. Lynn Jay, the former dance team coach at Lemont whose son, Tyler, plays football and baseball, understands the reasoning behind it.
“Times are tough and I think at the high school level any support that we can contribute will help,” Jay said. “You don’t want to hold your child back as an athlete. I think the people of Lemont will do what they can to help the athletes and the school.”
On-field effect
With money tight everywhere, some people simply cannot pay the extra cost for their children to participate in athletics.
“You don’t see a lot of two- and three-sport athletes anymore and I think it (the fee) is a part of that, especially if money is tight,” Treiber said.
Glenbard East’s Miller has seen fees affecting turnout.
“One of the things from a coaching perspective is that numbers are starting to go down in the programs as a whole because kids are realizing or parents are telling them, ‘Is it worth another $140 to sit on the bench? Is it really worth it if you’re not going to see a significant amount of time?’” Miller said.
Riverside Brookfield’s Ostrow will wait and see what kind of effect the fees have on participation.
“Hopefully it doesn’t ruin participation opportunities and create exclusion,” he said.
Elsewhere, the fees have had little or no effect on turnout. Geneva’s Kafer has actually seen an increase.
“In soccer, volleyball and baseball we added teams because so many kids wanted to play,” Kafer said.
Perhaps one reason participation at Geneva is growing is because, according to Kafer, no one who wanted to participate would be held back because of a financial situation. He said the school and the district would find a way to work it out.
Bolingbrook athletic director Alec Anderson said his school also tries to be flexible, although he stressed that athletics are extra curricular, not required.
“We put them on a payment throughout the season, or we let them work it off,” Anderson said. “For instance, a coach will have a wrestler mop the mats before practice.”
Where is the cash stashed?
While the fees may cause extra strain on the parents’ checkbooks, it could be worse — the fees could cover the actual expense of playing a sport. As it is now, the athletic fees don’t cover the full cost of each athlete’s participation.
However, the money does help offset some of the district costs for footing athletic bills.
“The fees don’t come close to covering the costs, but they help pay for things like transportation, equipment and officials,” Anderson said.
In many situations, the fees go back to the school district and the money is spread among all schools, not just high schools or middle schools.
In RB’s case, Ostrow said the fees will go to specific expenditures for the athletic department.
“The fees will be used towards workers for events, officials and tournament entry fees with equipment and uniforms remaining to be provided by the school district’s budget,” Ostrow said.
Here to stay
Opinions on the fees differ, the fees themselves differ, how the money is used differs and the on-field effect varies, but one thing seems certain — the athletic fees are here to stay. Rising costs and diminishing returns almost force school districts to implement them.
But there’s a reason it’s called pay-to-play.
“With sports, you only pay for it if you use it,” Geneva’s Kafer said. “If not, you don’t have to pay.”
Western Suburbs, IL —
