Schools
Some School Athletics Fees to Increase Next Year
The family maximum payment will increase at Templeton Middle School and Hamilton High School in 2011-12.
Sports fees at the middle and high school level are going to go up in the 2011-12 school year.
The Hamilton School Board this week approved increasing the maximum family athletic fee at from $60 to $80, and the maximum fee atfrom $90 to $120. Athletic fees per sport will remain $20 at the middle school and $30 at the high school.
The cost of a family athletic/activity pass will also rise from $45 to $60 and the transcript processing fee will go from $2.55 to $5 for current students and $5 for students out of school for at least one year.
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The increase in fees is necessary in order for the district to keep up with continued costs associated with running the sports programs.
“If you look at comparable districts, we’re still below the average,” board member Michael Hyland said. “We were trying to still be cognizant of what the economy has done to families.”
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According to district documents, will keep athletic fees in line with neighboring districts. In the Arrowhead School District, students pay a one-time $125 fee; in the Elmbrook School District students pay $30 for sports in middle school, and $60 for one sport or $120 for two or more sports at the high school level; and in the Menomonee Falls School District, students pay $90 per sport in middle school and $110 per sport at the high school with a four sport per family maximum.
Board member Deborah Briggs said when discussing the potential of raising fees leaders agreed they only wanted to raise discretionary fees not ones that students are required to pay.
“We didn’t want to touch the school fees,” she said.
Mike Gosz, athletic director for Hamilton, said when discussing the increase in fees officials didn’t want to raise the individual sport fee for students in order to be cognizant of the economic hardships families are undergoing. If a student is unable to play a sport due to an economic hardship, he said there are waivers people can apply for and he will do everything he can to make sure the student can participate.
“I think it’ll have very little impact on our involvement,” he said. “Our numbers and involvement have gone up here every year, and when you compare what the kids are paying in club sports and youth leagues, $30 per sport is a pretty good deal.”
