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Board hears options as extracurricular costs, official fees strain district activity budget
Summary
Board members reviewed a district spreadsheet showing roughly $712,000 spent on extracurricular and co-curricular activities in 2023–24 and discussed possible athletic/activity fees, reductions to contests, and stakeholder outreach before any policy change.
Board members and staff discussed extracurricular and athletics spending at length during the March 5 Laramie County School District #2 CAL meeting, reviewing a district spreadsheet that staff said showed approximately $712,000 in activity-related expenditures for the 2023–24 year.
Justin (superintendent) and athletic staff described the major cost drivers and options to reduce the gap between revenues and expenses. Staff said officials’ fees and meals/rooms for away contests are among the larger line items. "If you just want to reduce the number of contests you go to, you change the outcome of your bottom line," one board member said.
Board member Cody introduced the discussion and said many districts use a per-participant or per-student fee to maintain equipment and uniforms on a more frequent replacement cycle. "My thought process is to put it into a central fund," Cody said, explaining that district-wide pooling could help teams replace jerseys and other items that wear out after multiple seasons.
Staff and board members explored several practical constraints and trade-offs: funding from the state is largely per-pupil (operating model discussed by Justin), some line items are reimbursable only after the fact (transportation is reimbursed in the following fiscal year), and officials’ fees are set largely by outside associations. Staff noted indoor track had been funded with ESSER dollars in the prior year and that some one-time costs had been covered by temporary federal funds.
Board members discussed a possible $75 per-sport fee as an illustration: that figure would raise about $22,500 if every student in a typical graduating cohort paid it, but speakers acknowledged not all families would be able to pay and that fee-waiver provisions (similar to free and reduced-price meal waivers) would be required. "My favorite part that's part of that, especially with the economy, is there's a lot of families that don't qualify for free or reduced lunch. But they don't have an extra $75," a board member said.
Staff described operational details that affect costs: districts may use multipurpose vehicles (MPVs) and district Suburbans under certain conditions and still qualify for transportation reimbursement if they follow state rules (for example, a Suburban must be towing an equipment trailer and cannot transport students if the trip is claimed for reimbursement). The district also reported that activity admission is $3 per event, with students and staff admitted free.
Several board members and staff urged a stakeholder outreach process before any fee adoption, proposing coaches, athletic directors, activity sponsors and parents be involved in designing a plan. Justin recommended a deliberate, multi-step conversation with sponsors and ADs before pursuing a fee or other structural change.
No formal fees or policy changes were adopted at the meeting. Board members asked staff to continue studying the funding model, convene stakeholders and present options at a future meeting.
