'Extras' could cost more in schools
By Brooke Leister / Staff Writer
Thursday, November 6, 2003

For Spy Ponder athletes, the cost to play could become dramatically more expensive.

Instead of paying $175 to play, the School Committee recently discussed options including an $800 flat fee for all participants, fees for individual sports, or, in a worst-case scenario, the elimination of some or all sports.

The committee hosted a public forum to discuss student activity fees for fiscal 2005 last Wednesday evening. Thirty or so community members showed up, leaving several empty seats in the Ottoson Middle School cafetorium.

With an ever-tightening budget and a teaching staff without a contract, the committee can no longer fund the same programs it has in the past.

"In this fiscal year '04, we were not able to budget any raises for our teachers," said School Committee Chairman Suzanne Baratta Owayda. "That cannot happen in '05, it cannot happen in '06. We need to pay them competitively, so they'll stay here in Arlington and continue to do the great work they're doing... We offer so many things in Arlington schools to keep kids involved in their community."

Student athletes now pay $175 to play, bringing in $92,000 a year. The total program cost is $436,000 and the $344,000 difference is paid out of the committee's operating budget. If athletics were fully-funded by fees, the cost would be $824 per year.
For full-day kindergarten, parents pay $1,500, which covers 100 percent of the $495,000 program cost.

To participate in the music program, students pay $175, or 55 percent of the $92,000 program costs. If the program was fully-funded by fees, the cost would be $320 per year. The committee now pays the $41,000 difference.

For other clubs, such as drama, students pay nothing. These programs carry a $68,000 price tag. If the program was fully-funded by fees, the cost would be $100 per year.

"Without a reduction in non-teaching expenses, further teacher layoffs are inevitable. That just can't happen. Another thing the School Committee could look at is the elimination of some or all level of sports and I don't think the School Committee wants to do that," Owayda said.

Arlington High School Athletic Director Rob DiLoretto said while surrounding communities have implemented pay-to-play fees, many of the schools in the Greater Boston League, the league Arlington plays in, have not. Of the nine schools in the league, only Medford, Peabody and Arlington have fees.

"If we do raise the level of fees next year, it will put us in a more competitive disadvantage," DiLoretto said.

In the school policy handbook, the document states, to the extent possible, the Arlington Public Schools will financially support these activities through the operating budget. In event activity fees are necessary, all students will be encouraged to participate regardless of financial status.

DiLoretto wondered how this can continue, if the money is not there to pay the bills.

At the meeting, Arlington resident Sharon Grossman stressed the importance of a well-rounded high school experience.

"For high school kids, the day doesn't end at 2:45. The day goes on and on. If we think back to our own high school experience, I would guess most of us participated in some type of extracurricular that may have changed our lives. Extracurriculars need to be part of high school, that's not to say there doesn't need to be some type of fee for that," she said.

Speaking about the forum at Tuesday's School Committee meeting, Owayda said scholarships are already offered for those who cannot afford fees. The board also discussed additional fund-raising for extracurricular activities.

"When and if we have (higher) fees, we need to have scholarship money built into the fees," Owayda said.

Selectmen criticized

Residents expressed displeasure that the selectmen did not attend the meeting.

"This is a town issue, it's not a school issue," said Arlingtonian Rhonda Feinbaum, who also said she would like to see a spread sheet detailing what other towns charge for student activities. "I feel like there's this huge divide. If they're (the selectmen) not here, than it's just us telling us."

Arlington resident Nora Mann agreed.

"I'm profoundly disappointed that none of the people I voted for, or had the opportunity to vote for, are here," she said. "We've got to start being real here. We're sitting in this room, a school room, and we're talking to ourselves going, 'Oh, poor me.'

"I just think we need to refocus. We need to be like Caesar's wife. We need to be beyond reproach (with the budget)."

Committee member Paul Schlichtman called 127 (the Town Meeting majority) the magic number.

"It's not the selectmen. The selectmen don't appropriate. The magic number is 127. Town Meeting is the legislature of the town - it appropriates. Real power is in Town Meeting, but they're not a full-time body," Schlichtman said.

The student population of 4,500 is small for a town with 43,000 residents, Schlichtman added.

"I think the problem is not what we can afford, but what the political will is in town," he said.

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