CATAWISSA RR - A motion to require Southern Columbia Area students participating in athletic and extracurricular activities to pay a $50 fee did not receive enough support from school board directors Monday night.
The pay-to-participate program, which would have been exempt for students eligible for free and reduced lunch, was originally suggested by Vice President Charlie Porter in May 2012 as a creative way to bring financial issues under control.
However, President Mike Yeager said Monday the motion is too vague and doesn't specify which grade levels and activities would be included in the program.
Furthermore, he said, there is a chance some students would not participate or some parents would not volunteer if the fee was passed.
"If we do anything to alienate people, maybe we're cutting our own throats," Yeager said.
Director Rick Steele agreed, saying, "If we lose one kid, it's not worth what we would gain from it."
While Steele said it may be inevitable that programs like this will be implemented in the future, he said it's not the time now to pass it for many reasons.
If the money collected from the fees would save a position or program, he would be more likely to vote in favor of it. Plus, the money collected would not even benefit the current budget, he said.
"It does not meet my criteria to support it," Steele said.
Director Timothy Vought said there is no plan or policy to complement the motion.
"It's just thrown in (the agenda) with no plan in place on how to do it," he said.
When Porter raised the issues last year, there were significant changes in the structure of state funding for public schools, leaving boards scrambling in the past two budget seasons to fill large deficits. Since these issues have arisen, the Pennsylvania School Board Association and Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association released a survey last year that reported the number of schools charging a fee for sports and extracurricular programs have more than doubled in just two years.
Some school activities are extracurricular, such as sports and certain clubs, while others are co-curricular, such as band or music programs that count for grades. Co-curriculars would have been exempt from the pay-to-participate program if the motion had passed.
Director Gail Zambor Schuerch, who supported the motion, noted the district is struggling with the budget and said the reactions from students and parents wouldn't be as harsh as people think.
"We're in a pinch for money," she said.
Porter said he didn't think it was too much to ask the direct beneficiaries to support the program in which they participate.
For unlimited sports or extracurricular activities with coaching benefits, $50 is a "fantastic" deal, he said.
The motion was made and seconded by Directors Porter and Eric Stahley. The board was split in the vote with three directors - Schuerch, Stahley and Porter - voting in favor of it and four directors - John Yocum, Vought, Steele and Yeager - voting against it.
Budget passed
The board also passed a $18,076,395 2013-14 budget with a property tax increase.
Northumberland County property owners will see a 2.91 increase in real estate millage, raising the rate to 52.86 mills, and Columbia County property owners will see a 1.6-mill boost to 35.8 mills.
On a property assessed at $26,695, Northumberland County residents would see an average increase of $77.68 a year while Columbia County residents with a property assessed at $32,288 would see an average increase of $51.66 a year.
The motion to approve the budget was made and seconded by Vought and Steele. It passed 5-2 with Porter and Stahley voting against it.
Both Stahley and Porter said they would rather have used $600,000 in a contingency fund related to the construction project to fill part of the deficit in this year's budget, which is allowable by state law, instead of raising taxes.
Stahley also said he disagrees with using state-allowed exceptions to raise property taxes above the limit, which was part of the budget.
In other business, the board approved:
- Two change orders to the middle and high school renovations and additions project, resulting in an additional $20,727.29.
- The hiring of Jonathan Reed for the position of technology support specialists effective July 1 at a salary of $30,000 and benefits per year.