Board authorizes fees for pupils to participate in sports, after-school activities

Beginning in September, parents will pay for their children to participate in school sports and after-school student activities in the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District.

During a meeting on Jan. 22, board members approved student fees for the 2019-20 school year. For a child to participate on a sports team, the fee will be between $100 and $300. For a child to participate in an after-school student activity, the fee will be $100.

The cost to participate in wrestling, cross country, and track and field will be $100. The cost to participate in baseball, cheerleading, field hockey, soccer, softball and tennis will be $200. The cost to participate in basketball will be $300, according to information provided by the board.

The after-school student activities that will have a $100 fee are the Bard and the Bears, Future Teachers of America, History Day Coordinator, Honors Jazz Band, Honors Percussion Band, Honors String Ensemble, Italian Heritage Day, Manala-Pans, Math Challenges, Musical Production, National Honor Society, Peer Helpers, Select Vocal Ensemble, Student Council and Yearbook, according to information provided by the board.

Board members have said a planned $12 million reduction in Manalapan-Englishtown’s state aid over the next six years will require them to make decisions that will have an impact on the school district’s staff and programming.

“These are hard choices and this is only the beginning,” Superintendent of Schools John J. Marciante Jr. said. “We are looking at $12 million in cuts.”

“We are heading into some really tough times, a period of unknown,” board President Dotty Porcaro said. “Our superintendent and our business administrator need permission to look into things and to find possible sources of revenue. We have to, as a board, look into these things. If need be, we are going to charge” for sports and clubs.

Business Administrator Veronica Wolf said the board will have a clearer picture of the situation when state aid figures for the 2019-20 school year are released in early March. A budget for the upcoming school year is being developed and is expected to be adopted by the board in May.

Wolf said changes in plans such as the implementation of fees could be made until September if the district’s revenue situation changes.

“We are going to take this day by day,” she said.

In addition to instituting fees for sports and extracurricular activities, board members also took the following actions on Jan. 22:

• Passed a waiver of coverage resolution which states that employees who have medical and prescription coverage from a plan outside the school district, who waive the coverage offered by the school district, will receive an incentive payment of $1,000 for opting out of single coverage and $2,500 for opting out of member/spouse, parent/child, or family coverage;

• Approved a plan which states that all replacement positions of at least eight weeks, but not for the full academic year, will be hired as long-term substitutes without benefits for the initial 60 days of employment for the 2019-20 school year;

• Set the cost for eighth grade graduation tickets at $10 each, three tickets per student, for the 2019-2020 school year;