Freehold Regional Considers Extracurricular Participation Fees

Parents of Freehold Regional High School District students may have to pay for their children to participate in athletic programs and clubs in September.

At the Tuesday, Feb. 15 meeting of the Board of Education at the administration office in Englishtown, board Secretary and Business Administrator Sean Boyce introduced a fee model of $250 for a student to play school sports and $100 to join after-school activities. The cost for a family would be capped at $600. In addition, students eligible for free lunch would be exempt from the fees and those receiving reduced lunch would pay a lower fee. Principals would be allowed to waive fees for hardship cases.

“We think this is the responsible approach. We think it is reasonable for families,” Boyce said. “To what extent it will impact the interest level in the clubs remains to be seen.”

Boyce noted that districts he looked at that had implemented a pay-to-participate model did not see a significant decline in student activity.

When considering how to approach extracurricular activities in the 2011-12 budget, Boyce said his primary objective was maintaining the quality of the programs.

“[We had to ask], are we going to diminish the quality of the product to keep the participation fee at a certain level? We decided to keep the quality,” Boyce said.

In the 2010-11 budget, $6,306,000 went to extracurricular programs. Under Boyce’s proposal for 2011-12, pay-to-participate fees would raise $1,728,000, and the district would fund $4,800,000 for a total extracurricular budget of $6,534,000.

Two clubs, Future Farmers of America and Skills USA, would be exempt from the fee since they receive federal funding. Marching band and cheerleading would be considered clubs under the fee model, according to Boyce.

Once a method for collecting fees online is established, Boyce said the district should consider moving school lunch payments online, as well.

The pay-to-participate model will be included in the tentative budget the board will discuss at its next meeting on Monday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. at Manalapan High School. The plan will be finalized for the Monday, March 28 budget hearing at 7 p.m. at Marlboro High School.