The student activity fee for middle school and high school students will remain the same in the 2014-15 school year.
By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — The student activity fee for middle school and high school students will remain the same in the 2014-15 school year.
The Board of Education implemented an activity fee several years ago when the school budget was defeated and the board needed to find additional revenue sources. Currently, a student pays $100 per year to participate in unlimited extracurricular activities including sports at the middle and high schools.
The school district anticipates collecting $150,000 in student fees to support the 2014-15 budget, according to School Business Administrator/Board Secretary Thomas Venanzi.
During the board’s meeting last weekm Lei Yu, the board’s Assessment, Curriculum and Instruction (ACI) Committee chair, said the ACI Committee has had discussions about the activity fee process and if it is hampering students’ enthusiasm for participating in after-school activities.
Superintendent of Schools Nancy Gartenberg said no student should ever be intimidated from participating in any way due to financial hardship.
”This needs to be better communicated to parents,” she said.
She explained the process for participation and said the student or parent must complete a participation form. If the student is participating in a sport, he/she must have a physical before submitting the form to the district. If a student is accepted to a club or to a team after tryouts, payment is due by the first session of the club or first game.
”You pay one time per student despite the number of sports or clubs the student is participating in,” Ms. Gartendberg said.
She said no student has been ever been denied participation due to financial hardship.
”We need to make it a little clearer that a fee can be waived or modified if the student gets free or reduced (cost) lunch and that other modifications are available for hardships,” Ms. Gartenberg said, adding that the information remains confidential.
”We want all students to participate as much as they can,” she said.