By Ray Compton
A neighboring athletic director in Hamilton County admits he is closely monitoring the new policy at the Hamilton Southeastern school district where schools are implementing for the first time this year a participation fee in athletics.
“I think all of us athletic directors want to see what happens,” noted the athletic director. “We are curious to see if it is the direction all of us may be heading toward in the future.”
For now, the results are incomplete. That’s the opinion of Hamilton Southeastern Chief Financial Officer Mike Reuter, who is also gauging the results of the new program that has been instilled at the two high schools (Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern) and the three junior high schools (Riverside, Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern).
“The impact has yet to be determined,” said Reuter. “We’re just into the fall sports so we are early in the year. We know it is a big jump for everyone.”
In order to soften the blow of the new participation fee, Reuter and his staff designed numerous financial tiers that factor multiple sports participation; academic achievements; and more than one family participant involved in sports. The base fee is $225, but the rates can be dramatically reduced if an athlete and his or her family qualify for reductions.
However, Reuter warns that the system may never go away.
“We’ve trimmed our expenses as much as we can,” said the HSE administrator. “No one wanted to impose the participation fee but we have to raise additional revenue or limit our programs (sports).”
And while the sports participation fee is new at Hamilton Southeastern, the battle regarding funding has been an on-going campaign since the state started doling out less revenue to all Indiana public schools.
“It is a sad reality that many districts don’t receive enough state funding,” Reuter said. “We have to protect the classroom and this is a step toward that accomplishment. At this point, I don’t see it going away, but we will evaluate the situation at the end of the year and adjust the fees if we have to do.”
The participation fees are projected to bring in over $350,000 to help offset the cost of sports in the schools.
