Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Activities Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
School division proposes higher ticket prices, family passes and postseason coach pay to offset rising student-activity costs
Summary
The student activities office proposed a phased plan to increase ticket and pass prices, expand ticketed events and pay coaches for postseason play; administration estimated roughly $369,000 in ticket/pass revenue and $300,000 to cover increased coach stipends and will return to the board for a vote.
School division staff presented on March 20 a three-part proposal to address rising costs for athletics and student activities: raise coaches' stipends (including postseason pay), increase ticket and pass prices (with new family pass options), and expand ticket sales to events not previously charged.
Leanne Turnbull, director of the Office of Student Leadership, said raising supplemental pay for Virginia High School League and Virginia Beach Middle School League coaches by 10% and adding postseason stipends would cost about $300,000. To help offset that, administration proposed raising ticket and pass prices and estimated the ticket/pass changes could generate approximately $369,000 in additional revenue; expanding ticket sales to previously free events could add about $50,000 more.
Turnbull outlined a phased expansion of ticketed events beginning in 2025–26 that would add ticketing for several sports (field hockey, swim and dive, indoor/outdoor track, JV soccer) and certain middle-school playoff events; baseball and softball ticketing would be delayed to 2026–27 because of perimeter/access changes required at some sites. The office said some events—golf, tennis and cross country—are not conducive to gate charging because of facility layout.
Board members raised concerns about access and affordability. Mr. Bowen Steel and others questioned a proposed jump in middle-school ticket prices (from $3 to $8), and requested consideration of reduced fees or family passes for households qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. Dr. Robertson and staff said the division would re-evaluate the middle-school price (Superintendent’s office agreed to consider lowering it to $6 as an interim adjustment) and would explore middle-school family-pass options and alternative payment plans.
Staff noted that the $50,000 estimate for expanded ticket sales did not include additional staffing costs required to operate more ticketed events; board members asked staff to return with more detailed labor and net-revenue estimates. Administration said it will return to the board for a vote on fee changes on the schedule presented (a formal vote was expected in weeks following the presentation).
