Framingham To Consider 50 Percent Reduction in Athletic Fee

Framingham School Committee is considering reducing the athletic fee for Framingham High students, by as much as 50 percent in the 2016-17 school year.

The Committee considered proposals to reduce the fee by 25 percent, 50 percent, and eliminate the fee completed at its Tuesday night meeting.

Framingham charges $225 per sport, per season to participate in athletics. Those on free and reduced lunch can apply for a full or partial waiver. There is a maximum charge of $900 per family, regardless of how many athletes participate or how many seasons.

Editor’s Note: In full transparency, my daughter plays a sport at Framingham High and I have paid the fee.

The Committee voted Tuesday night to reduce athletic fees to $110 per students, per season, and have a family cap of $440.

Under the Committee’s policy, the new fees can NOT be implimented until a second vote takes place in February.

Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott proposed reducing the athletic fee by 25 percent from $225 to $170 next year.

Framingham Committee member Jim Kelly said it wasn’t enough and wanted to eliminate the fee completely for the 2016-17 school year.

School Committee member Heather Connolly, who has two daughters at the high school and has paid the athletic fee, said she was concerned if the fee was eliminated altogether that parents would still be charged for other items in the athletic department. She asked for an audit of the athletic department by each sport.

Motions to eliminate the fee and reduce it by 25 percent were defeated.

School Committee member Don Taggart, whose freshman son plays sports at Framingham High, then proposed a 50 percent reduction in the athletic fee.

Editor’s Note: As more than a majority of the School Committee members have high school students, the rule of necessity was invoked so that all members could vote on the fee issue. Each member announced how the fee would have an impact on their family.

The Committee approved Taggart’s motion.

Former School Committee member and candidate for the Committee this year Rick FInlay came before the Committee requesting a reduction in athletic fees, stating it was reducing the number of athletes participating in sports at Framingham High and was unfair to some families who could not pay the fee. He asked for the fee to be phased out and eventually eliminated within 4-5 years.

Finlay said after last night’s meeting he was “proud” of the Committee for taking action to reduce the athletic fees.

“It truly is a step in the right direction,” said Finlay.

Presently, about 50 percent of Framingham High School is on free and reduced lunch, which means those students are eligible for full or partial waivers of the athletic fee.

The athletic department collects about $200,000 in fees to support its more than $900,000 budget.

Earlier this month, Framingham High’s interim athletic director, in a letter to the Framingham School Committee, believes ”the assessment of athletic fees results in inequities and logistical problems that can be eliminated through their abolition.”

Interim Athletic Director Ron Sudmyer said having athletic fees creates a “lack of participation in athletics for those who do not qualify for waivers yet consider the fee burdensome for their families.”

Discussion on Framingham Patch’s Facebook page this month had been in favor of reducing and or eliminating the athletic fee. There were more than 30 comments.