The only thing certain about fees for school sports is that they won’t stay the same. Fees will increase next year to cover rising expenses if the sports program remains self-supporting. But if the School Committee finds a way to move at least part of the program’s costs into the school budget, fees could be somewhat lower.
Until about 10 years ago, coaches’ salaries were part of the Harvard schools budget, while families paid for uniforms and other costs, according to School Committee Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger, who summarized the background of the issue at Monday’s school board meeting. But a budget crunch led Harvard, like other school districts, to shift more costs to families in the form of user fees. In 2010, Harvard voters rejected a $107,000 override to reduce the fees. Since then, fees have been the sole support of sports programs in Harvard.
Families also pay for arts programs, buses
At Monday’s meeting, committee members discussed the athletic fees in context with other user fees, including those for arts programs and school buses. For example, ticket prices once covered the cost of school theatrical productions, Redinger said. But the drama program, too, now depends on fees from students’ families. But unlike coaches, salaries for music, drama, and art teachers are part of the school budget.
Student representative Kenneth Lin, a senior at the Bromfield School, told the committee that student musicians, artists, and actors do not have the option for fee waivers based on need, like those that are available for sports and busing charges. Lin cited the fees music students pay to take part in regional music groups such as the New England Music Festival. Lin said Bromfield music teacher Tom Reynolds has sometimes paid those fees out of his own pocket for students whose families could not afford them.
School Committee member Kirsten Wright argued that reducing bus fees should have top priority, because the town is legally obligated to offer transportation. In recent years, bus ridership—which was once free—has declined, making the cost per student even higher for the district.
Athletic committee lowers request
Two weeks ago, members of the Athletic Advisory Committee asked that $270,000 be included in the school budget to eliminate the sports fees. At this meeting, representatives of the volunteer group reduced that request to $170,000. Speaking for the athletic committee, Sue Toll said the new amount was enough to make the athletic director a full-time position and to pay the salaries of the coaching staff.
Current athletic fees in Harvard are actually about $15 lower per sport than they were a few years ago when interim Superintendent Joe Connelly reduced them across the board. Partly because of that reduction, however, the fees no longer produce a “cushion” to cover unexpected needs. And last year’s heavy snows led to higher transportation costs because—with local fields covered by snow—teams had to be bused elsewhere for practices and early games. Those costs depleted the program’s revolving fund, leading to the prediction of higher fees next year, according to Athletic Director Pam Alexander.
Subcommittee to look into changes
Given that the current athletic fees can’t support the program, Redinger said, the School Committee must take action one way or another. She proposed delegating the issue to the budget subcommittee to get into the details and dollars involved. Jennifer Bedford and Redinger make up that subcommittee.
“Athletics are an integral part of this town,” Redinger said, suggesting that it might be time to return to the previous practice of including coaches’ salaries in the school budget. But she warned that this change would not fit within the Finance Committee’s directive to keep to a level-service budget.
Superintendent Linda Dwight said that coaches’ salaries total about $120,000, a figure that will increase somewhat each year. Sue Toll of the Athletic Advisory Committee said a user fee of $200 for each sport would cover all other costs, if the schools paid salaries.
