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Washington Township board suspends high‑school pay‑to‑play for 2025–26; donors restore many clubs
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Hibbs and the board withdrew the athletic participation fee for the 2025–26 school year and announced donors will cover many high‑school co‑curricular positions this year; administration said the district will work to restore funding in next year’s budget.
The Washington Township School District announced on the floor of its board meeting that the proposed athletic participation fee has been pulled and will not be charged for the 2025–26 school year.
"There will be no costs associated with pay to play for high school sports for this entire year," Superintendent Dr. Hibbs said, adding that the subject could be revisited in future budget conversations. The action was described on the agenda as a withdrawn second‑reading of the athletic participation fee.
Board and district officials credited community donors for allowing many previously cut high‑school co‑curricular activities to run this year. Dr. Hibbs listed clubs and programs that donors or volunteers had agreed to support this season, including language clubs, theater, ROTC, FBLA and Project Unify, and said honor societies will operate.
Patty Soukalas, the high‑school co‑curricular chair for the teachers’ union, told the board she had repeatedly asked administration for a definitive list of which positions were at risk and said uncertainty forced advisers to delay applying for roles. "When advisors don't know if their club still exists, they lose the chance to apply for other co‑curricular roles," she said.
District staff said donor support is a stopgap: the goal is to restore those positions to the regular budget next year so the programs do not rely on one‑time gifts. The district’s community relations director also noted the Washington Township Education Foundation’s recent Golf Classic netted $26,080 to support educational programming.
Officials said middle‑school pay‑to‑play had been modeled and would not generate sufficient revenue for this year. The administration and board agreed to continue evaluating options for restoring extracurriculars and for communicating more quickly with advisors and families.
The board did not hold a formal vote specifically enacting a permanent policy change on pay‑to‑play during the meeting; the item was removed from the agenda and district leaders framed the suspension as a current‑year decision and an item for future budget work.
What’s next: district staff said they will continue donor outreach and aim to include co‑curricular funding in the 2026 budget; parents and teachers pressed the board for clearer, earlier notices if programs face cuts.
