Betty Mills, whose son, Shane, plays football, basketball andbaseball at Fairfax High School, says she would have problemsscraping up as much as $150 in fees that could be required if thecounty School Board decides to charge for extracurricularactivities.
'It wouldn't be real easy to pay,' Mills said. 'It would not bethe easiest thing in the world. I don't have large finances, but Iwould find a way for him to play.'
As they face the task of cutting $17 million more from theschool budget Thursday, Fairfax County School Board members say theymust decide between upholding their belief in free education andeliminating activities that are essential to a well-roundededucation. A committee of parents, teachers and schooladministrators has recommended charging fees rather than cuttingprograms.
'I don't like the idea of fees,' said School Board Vice ChairmanLaura I. McDowall (Braddock). 'In the best of all worlds, if it'sworth offering in school, we shouldn't charge for it. But the pointmade by the committee is that before the board eliminates athleticsand activities, we should seriously consider charging fees. We maybe driven to it.'
If the School Board, which is facing one of the worst budgetcrises in recent history, votes to raise revenue by chargingactivity fees, it will join other school systems across the countrythat have sought money from parents, students and businesses to payfor basic educational programs.
In some school systems, parents and students are paying for artteachers, buses, computers and field trips. Some schools arecharging students as much as $700 to play baseball, basketball,football and tennis. The San Francisco school system imposed asurcharge on tickets to professional sporting events that would payfor athletic and extracurricular programs at high schools. Lastyear, the Fairfax School Board started charging students a $100parking fee.
'They are using creative approaches to generating revenue,' saidThomas Shannon, executive director of the National School BoardsAssociation. 'School boards don't like to be put in that position of. . . having to get the tin cup out.'
In the Washington area, schools in the District and inMontgomery, Prince George's and Arlington counties do not chargestudents for extracurricular activities, according to schoolofficials.
However, Montgomery will start charging students a $25 parkingfee next year, according to school board member Frances Brenneman.Students also will be charged as much as $400 for summer schoolcourses, she said.
Prince George's school officials considered charging a fee of$25 per semester, but never took it to a vote. Officials rejected aproposed parking fee for students.
According to Shannon, questions about equity are being raised aspublic schools turn to collecting money for classes and programs. InNew York and California, fees for activities have been ruled illegalbecause of their discriminatory implications. Educators say that inmany cases, poorer children lose out.
'The traditional thought is a legitimate public expenditureshould be funded by the public,' Shannon said. 'If we start havingparents fund computers in wealthy neighborhoods, they might getgreat computers, and in poorer neighborhoods, you get zero.'
In Rocky Point, N.Y., on Long Island, where taxpayers defeated aschool budget and all activities were eliminated, the privatebooster club took over the activities and charges students as muchas $700 to play. For example, a student pays $407 to play baseball,$624 for high school track and $528 for varsity basketball. The feespay for everything related to the sport, including insurance, dues,officials' fees, bus transportation and salaries for coaches.Students there also pay for the school newspaper, chess team, mathteam, marching band, clubs, prom, yearbooks and plays.
Dennis Desmond, director of athletics for the school district inRocky Point, a blue-collar, middle-class community, said: 'Our feesare very high, and they have eliminated the poor kids from playingsports. There are kids who don't qualify for free lunch whosefamilies are just making it and don't have the money.'
This year, Desmond said: 'A lot of them are hanging out. We'vehad more problems this year than ever before with fire alarms,vandalism, truancy, fights. There is a lot of anger.'
In Fairfax, a committee of parents and school officials studiedthe feasibility of charging fees after a proposal to eliminate somesports stirred a furious protest. School officials said the athleticprograms had been cut significantly in the last year and furthercuts could cause irreparable damage. On May 14, the committee'reluctantly' recommended that the School Board consider chargingfees of $25 to $50 for sports and $10 to $50 for each club orsociety, depending on the number of students. The committee set afamily maximum of $150 if the base fee is $25.
For intermediate and middle school students, the committeesuggested charging a one-time fee of $10 to $20. Committee membersalso have been asked for recommendations on how to generate otherrevenue.
According to the proposal, students who couldn't afford the feeswould receive waivers or pay reduced charges. The principal couldwaive fees for those who don't qualify for free and reduced-pricelunches, but whose families have financial problems. 'No studentshould be excluded from activities due to inability to pay anystudent fee,' the report said.
School Board member Robert E. Frye (At Large) said he isconcerned about students who might be reluctant to say they can'tpay.
'For many parents,' Frye said, 'when you start talking aboutfees it puts a sort of negative cloud over certain activities.Rather than investigate or get waivers, students may be discouragedfrom participating.'
But School Board member Gary A. Reese (Sully) said fees areinevitable.
'I think we have to charge fees. . . . We are in a situationwhen we can no longer have business as usual,' he said.@Slug: D01FAI
