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North Attleborough Public Schools approve higher athletic fees, set family cap at $750
Summary
School officials voted 7-0 to raise athletic user fees from $150 to $250 per student and set a $750 family cap so enrollment can open; officials said rising transportation and program costs are the main drivers and other extracurricular fees will be considered later.
At a North Attleborough Public Schools meeting, officials voted 7-0 to raise athletic user fees from $150 per student to $250 per student with a $750 family cap so the district can open enrollment.
District staff said the increase is needed now to allow athletic enrollment to open and to advise parents of the cost. "We had talked in the past about, increasing athletic user fees from $150 per student with a family cap, and we had talked about increasing that to $250 a student with a $750 family cap. And, we do need to do that now so that we can open enrollment and so that parents are advised of, of what the cost is," a staff member said while presenting the proposal.
The proposal prompted questions about equity across extracurricular activities. "Clarification, Tasha and Gil. Is this a comparable raise in price for other extracurricular activities?" a committee member asked. Staff responded that clubs and band are not being addressed at this meeting and that comparable increases will be discussed later as part of ongoing negotiations.
District personnel identified transportation cost increases as a major factor behind the athletic fee hike. "The transportation is a huge is very large, driver there," an athletics staff member said. The athletics staff also cited a required software program used mainly for football that costs about $14,000; staff said user-fee revenue is spent quickly once collected.
Members discussed how booster clubs, gate receipts and self-generated income for some programs affect net costs for specific sports. One committee member noted that revenue from activities such as football helps support the broader athletics program. Committee members said they will consider equity between higher-cost and lower-cost activities — for example, theater or baseball versus chess club — in future discussions, but agreed not to address those fees at this meeting.
The committee voted to implement the athletic fee increase. "All those in favor, say aye." The motion carried 7-0.
Officials said other extracurricular fee changes and further details will be discussed in upcoming negotiations; no date was set in the discussion recorded in the transcript.
