Michigan School District Ends Pay-To-Play

lenconnect.com

http://www.lenconnect.com/article/20130521/NEWS/130529891?refresh=true

Families of students who play sports in Adrian (Mich.) schools will no longer be required to pay participation fees.

“We look at athletics as an enhancement of our programming, so we want to remove barriers for our kids to participate,” Superintendent Chris Timmis said after Monday night’s school board meeting.

The district previously charged $75 for a first sport and $50 for a second sport at the high school level, and $50 for a first sport and $25 for a second sport at the middle school level. It was one of only four districts in Lenawee County to charge for athletic participation, according to athletic director John Roberts.

Roberts said participation has been a challenge and some teams have been canceled due to low numbers.

“I think we offer a very well-rounded slate of opportunities for our kids at Adrian High School and APS, and athletics is a part of that,” Roberts said, “and whatever we can do to keep that going and strong is the goal.”

School board member Jon Baucher said several people have brought up the pay-to-play policy with him since the proposal to eliminate fees was first introduced. He said he was recently at a game for the Adrian Middle School 7-8 intramural soccer program where one parent mentioned that the fee for intramurals is only $6; the AMS 7-8 soccer program has so many students participating that it had to be split into two teams.

The policy passed Monday had one change from the proposal Roberts presented two weeks ago. The district will drop the admission fee for APS students attending games to $3 instead of keeping it at $4.