Pay to Play

coop24

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pay-to-play school fees














By Laura Borchers
Monday May 9, 2016 7:24 PM
UPDATED: Monday May 9, 2016 9:45 PM

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NEW ALBANY, Ohio - In the wake of a levy failure in 2014, school administrators in New Albany made the move to charge $625 per sport or activity. It was the highest in the state and today some parents say it has become a low for the district.

"I have an 8th grader who plays tennis in the fall and would like to run track,? Mike Klein said. ?But with the fees, we may not do the second sport.?

Klein pays for his two daughters to participate in after school activities, but after two years of shelling out $625 per activity in high school and $425 per middle school sport, he is taking action. Monday he gathered parents at Eagle stadium to march together into the school board meeting and ask for a lower fee.

"It's not what?s best for kids- all kids,? Klein said. ?At the end of the day, that's what we're trying to do. Level the field for all of our kids."

The New Albany School Board has indicated the costly fee is not one they hope to keep for the long-term.

?From the very beginning we have hoped this would be a short-term problem that would be fixed by additional revenues," New Albany school borad president Laura Kohler said.

Kohler said she's heard from parents, and she expects some good news coming from school leaders. They are reviewing their five-year budget, and she indicated there has been additional funds coming into the school system. The community has seen several residential developments and new property tax dollars into the school district?s coffers.

Kohler adds the board is discussing how to best use the funds in their budget. She indicated the pay to play fees would not go away, but they could shrink.

"It could be anything from $0 to $200 in terms of a reduction,? Kohler said. ?I think it is safe to say that whatever plan we come up with will be a multi-pronged approach.?

The school district?s booster organization may be asked to help families cover a portion of their fees.

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Run26

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$625.00 per sport! You have got to be kidding me. This would seriously limit how many sports my kids could have played while in HS.
 

Dougk30

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Sounds like a scare tactic to me. "Pass our levys or we punish the kids"
 

Skeeter

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Huber Heights City School district (Montgomery county, Ohio) started with a pay to play fee of $725 a few years ago because they could not get a levy passed (still have not gotten a school levy to pass), the parents had to form a group called Every Warrior Plays (EWP) 501(c)3 (non-profit) to help with fundraising that is provided to the school board in order to get the pay to play fees lowered to $475.00 in 2015 and $350.00 in 2016. The pay to play fees are crazy these days! I paid $475.00 last year and $350.00 this year for my DD to play middle school softball (17-20 games per season).
 
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Louuuuu

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Sounds like a scare tactic to me. "Pass our levys or we punish the kids"

... meanwhile, the administrators still get raises. And the Marching Band gets new uniforms every three years with, or without, levies passing.
 

Stupid Jim

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girl - 500.00/softball 500.00/marching band
boy - 500.00/football 500.00/wrestling
girl - middle school 400.00/volleyball 400.00 basketball
vote to raise my taxes?
 

crystlemc

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I am so thankful that our school board is good with their money. We pay nothing for our kids to participate in ANY activity and we pay no school fees, either. AND we have a single campus school building that was built a few years ago with all new athletic facilities.
 

cobb_of_fury

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... meanwhile, the administrators still get raises. And the Marching Band gets new uniforms every three years with, or without, levies passing.

New Albany has a budget of $9,770.83 per student per year (2010 number cause I didn't realy care enough to look farther) - What is the cost of a good privet school in Franklin County? - I'm guessing not $10,000 a year.
STRIKE THIS - The average private school tuition in Franklin County is $10,836 for high schools - So there's that (holly crap) Stil...Not sure where all that money goes...

I'm all for families contributing to activity funds thats not a problem - that and fundraisers are perfectly good ways to pay for sports but $625.00 per sport is ludacris - What is the actual cost to play a sport?
Maybe $625 for football and Hockey but $625 for Track? thats crazy
 
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Skeeter

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I am so thankful that our school board is good with their money. We pay nothing for our kids to participate in ANY activity and we pay no school fees, either. AND we have a single campus school building that was built a few years ago with all new athletic facilities.

Thanks for rubbing it in crystlemc, lol.
 

Stupid Jim

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Cobb,
football is the only program that makes money for the school, you go to a Friday night game and the stands are packed at 7.00 or 8.00 per person-even students have to pay. Our school system is the only one its size in the state that has a full time athletic director, who is pulling down 75,000 a year. not counting the 5000 bonus for coaching a sport (assistant baseball coach)
 

cobb_of_fury

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Cobb,
football is the only program that makes money for the school, you go to a Friday night game and the stands are packed at 7.00 or 8.00 per person-even students have to pay. Our school system is the only one its size in the state that has a full time athletic director, who is pulling down 75,000 a year. not counting the 5000 bonus for coaching a sport (assistant baseball coach)

I agree Jim - So I assume Football at least pays for it self (I would think most football programs actualy generates money above cost).

So what is the cost of all the other sports? Track cant be more than $100. It's shorts, tanktop a couple coaches stipen and the bus, same with Basketball & Vollyball - They already own the fields and gym Softball, Lacros, Field Hockey I assume everyone has their own equipment. Most sports have to be less than $150 per kid.

Are there any AD's out there that have a real number?
 
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We don't live far from the district and was actually taking a ride out that way Saturday evening. The school looks like a college campus, everything is either brand new or very new. Not hard to figure out why it is costly to "play" out there.

Also property values in New Albany proper are just insane to the normal joe like me. I mean really 2000 sq ft homes starting in the mid $350K's..........I guess I just don't see the value but to each his own. And that was after getting glared at for driving our GM product thru the neighborhoods by the Audi and Lexus owners like we were obviously lost. It is almost like driving thru Muirfield Village in Delaware County......:)

New Albany has a budget of $9,770.83 per student per year (2010 number cause I didn't realy care enough to look farther) - What is the cost of a good privet school in Franklin County? - I'm guessing not $10,000 a year.
STRIKE THIS - The average private school tuition in Franklin County is $10,836 for high schools - So there's that (holly crap) Stil...Not sure where all that money goes...

I'm all for families contributing to activity funds thats not a problem - that and fundraisers are perfectly good ways to pay for sports but $625.00 per sport is ludacris - What is the actual cost to play a sport?
Maybe $625 for football and Hockey but $625 for Track? thats crazy
 

Stupid Jim

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what about wresting, drives me nuts to pay that much, and there is no gear from the school, they have been using the same mats for the last 15 years, and they still charge go get into the match. In all sports in our system the kids have to turn in the uniform at the end of the season.
 

Run26

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We don't live far from the district and was actually taking a ride out that way Saturday evening. The school looks like a college campus, everything is either brand new or very new. Not hard to figure out why it is costly to "play" out there.

Also property values in New Albany proper are just insane to the normal joe like me. I mean really 2000 sq ft homes starting in the mid $350K's..........I guess I just don't see the value but to each his own. And that was after getting glared at for driving our GM product thru the neighborhoods by the Audi and Lexus owners like we were obviously lost. It is almost like driving thru Muirfield Village in Delaware County......:)

Sounds to me like another "Keeping up with or trying to outdo the Jones's". It's pretty much the story of some parts of America; spend a bunch to look nice but have no idea on how to budget your life. Just because the exterior looks bliss doesn't mean the interior isn't riddled with ulcers.
 

TheSoftballZone

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I have a question on pay to play in school. Does anyone believe it's fair that I'm paying higher School Tax's for your child to reap the benefits that playing sports may bring to your Family or child? It's just a question everyone don't freak out.
 

crystlemc

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I have a question on pay to play in school. Does anyone believe it's fair that I'm paying higher School Tax's for your child to reap the benefits that playing sports may bring to your Family or child? It's just a question everyone don't freak out.

Honestly, yes. You are paying taxes for the school and it's activities, which are meant to enrich a child's life. Sports, drama, clubs all add value to a child's life. And science has proven that these programs also help kids perform better in the classroom. So, these taxes are going to help produce more well-rounded adults. And those are the adults that will be caring for you and making decisions about your life as you become elderly. Not to mention, the life lessons that these activities teach some of these kids, are invaluable, as some of them have some seriously lacking home lives.
 

cobb_of_fury

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I have a question on pay to play in school. Does anyone believe it's fair that I'm paying higher School Tax's for your child to reap the benefits that playing sports may bring to your Family or child? It's just a question everyone don't freak out.

I think that's why Activity fees are a good idea (To be honest I'm all for privatizing schools and getting the gov't out of them but that's a different subject)
The idea is supposed to be that schools and by extension the sports and activities contribute to producing better citizens - What my kid gains from it is (in theory) secondary to the benefit of society.

Thats why YOUR tax dollars pay for my kids education and activities. (NOT my theory just the Theory the system is based on)
 

cobb_of_fury

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I have a question on pay to play in school. Does anyone believe it's fair that I'm paying higher School Tax's for your child to reap the benefits that playing sports may bring to your Family or child? It's just a question everyone don't freak out.

Let me answer TSZ's question again a different way; - NO - No it's not fair, Your home life is not TSZ's problem If he want's to help with that he will volunteer or donate, he should not be forced to contribute for the betterment of the collective - that is actually The text book definition of communism . But it's cool... cause we do it because we care - and that way I don't have to feel bad for the kids who are laking home lives, cause the local government got it covered, so I don't have to worry about it.
 
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cobb_of_fury

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Let me answer TSZ's question again a different way; - NO - No it's not fair, Your home life is not TSZ's problem If he want's to help with that he will volunteer or donate, he should not be forced to contribute for the betterment of the collective - that is actually The text book definition of communism . But it's cool... cause we do it because we care - and that way I don't have to feel bad for the kids who are laking home lives, cause the local government got it covered, so I don't have to worry about it.

To be fair that was to the extreme - but somewhere in between lays reality - As a society we have a responsibility to the citizenry but at what point does that end. I think People need to contribute something for their own kids (I think $625 a sport is a bit much - But something)
 
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