Increase in athletic fees is weighed in Framingham

Increase in athletic fees is weighed in Framingham

    That deficit has to come out of the district’s operating budget, said superintendent Stacy Scott.
   

FRAMINGHAM – Two years after the school board reduced athletic fees in the district, an internal discussion is brewing in the school department whether to increase them again a year from now.Driving the dialogue is an approximately $220,000 hole in the revolving account that helps pay for sports programs at Framingham High.That deficit has to come out of the district’s operating budget, said superintendent Stacy Scott."We’re not intending to do that indefinitely," he said, adding the revolving account, which is funded with student athletic fees, ideally should be self-sustaining.But a spike in participation in sports programs this past year has led Scott to believe it may be time to increase the current per season fee of $225."Additional participation is not a bad story," Scott said. "The problem is, we lowered the fees."In the spring of 2012, the school board voted to cut the fee by $25 with the aim of reversing a recent trend in the district of escalating user fees. At the time, then-chairwoman Beverly Hugo said finding ways to further reduce those fees would continue to be a priority for the committee.Earlier this month, she and rest of the committee voted to keep the athletic fee at the same level for the upcoming school year."Before I would vote on the issue of raising fees for the fiscal 2016 year, I would want to see that all other avenues have been exhausted, from cost efficiencies and containments to other revenue enhancements such as sponsorships and grants," said Hugo, who is the chairwoman again this year. "Whatever decision is made, we need to strike a balance where no student is excluded from participation because of financial considerations."Gary Doherty, athletic director for the high school, said he also hopes the fee won't go up.The good news, he said, is that more kids are signing up for sports in the first place. The bulk of that increased participation is on the track teams, which unlike some other sports at Framingham High have a no-cut policy."There was a time when you could take one bus to a track meet – now we take three," he said, adding the number of track athletes per season has swelled from around 40 several years ago to close to 100 today.It costs more money to provide those extra students with transportation, uniforms, and other equipment and services.  However, Doherty estimates around one-third of student-athletes at Framimgham high are granted a need-based waiver from the athletic fee.To cover those added expenses, Scott said he would likely seek an increase sufficient to erase the deficit the revolving account incurred this year."You have to look at the whole structure," however, to find ways to make the athletic program more sustainable, he said, adding administrators may look at the $900 family cap that can give a considerable discount to families with multiple athletes, for example. "Maybe that could be slightly adjusted."