Blackstone‑Millville committee votes to modestly raise athletics and music fees, adjusts family cap

The Blackstone‑Millville Regional School Committee voted May 21 to adopt modest increases to student user fees for athletics and music and to raise the family cap that limits how much a household can be charged in a school year.

The committee approved a $25 increase for most high‑school athletic fees and a $10 increase in select music fees, agreed to remove user fees for middle‑school jazz band and the woodwind choir, and later voted to raise the family cap from $600 to $675. The incremental changes passed in separate recorded votes, each decided by 4–3 majorities.

Committee members and staff framed the change as a small, budgetary adjustment rather than a major revenue shift. Kristen Dedonato, director of finance and operations, told the committee that athletics and music user‑fee revenue flows into a dedicated revolving fund that offsets transportation costs; the administration cited roughly $85,000 in fee revenue against a transportation budget that can run near $121,000. Dedonato also presented estimates that a $25 fee increase would raise about $6,850 and that altering the family cap would incrementally increase revenue.

Opponents warned the increases could discourage participation and disproportionately affect families already contributing through taxes. "We're putting this on the backs of families who are already doing the things we ask them to do," a committee member said during debate, urging caution about raising charges even slightly. Supporters said modest adjustments are preferable to larger future hikes and noted fees have not risen in more than a decade.

The board split the motion so the family‑cap decision was voted separately after members raised concerns about fairness across single‑child and multi‑child households. The family cap change passed 4–3 after discussion about how caps interact with multiple‑sport families and music participation.

The committee directed the athletic and music directors to provide a participation and revenue breakdown at next year’s May meeting so members can monitor whether fee changes affect signups. The administration also said it will continue to use revolving‑fund accounting to keep fee revenue distinct from the district’s general reserves.

The vote leaves in place a combination of modest fee increases and fee waivers intended to balance program access and budget pressure; the committee noted it can revisit the policy if participation trends warrant changes.