Their respective high school teams battle each other on the playing field, but the athletic booster clubs in Harford County Public Schools are joining forces this summer against a new common enemy: pay-to-play student activities fees being implemented this coming school year.
The Harford County Board of Education approved the fees of $50 per sport and $25 per extra-curricular activity in June to raise roughly $500,000 in revenue, and save teaching positions that would have otherwise been cut from the school system’s $424.7 million fiscal year 2014 operating budget. The fees for students in all grades were enacted along with other measures to balance the Board’s spending plans with funding provided by state and county government.
At the time, the Board exempted students enrolled in the Free and Reduced-Price Meals (FaRMS) program, along with children of teachers and active military personnel. Other details regarding the fees were to be developed prior to implementation in the 2013 fall season.
In addition to raising revenue, the pay-to-play fees were also cited by one Board member as way to engage parents who might then pressure fiscal authorities to increase education funding.
Whether pay-to-play fees have that effect remains to be seen. For now, the athletic booster clubs from nearly all ten public high schools in Harford County are taking their fight against the fees directly to the School Board at a board business meeting set for Monday.
Below are excerpts from the planned statements by seven booster clubs provided to The Dagger for publication:
From the Bel Air Bobcats:
“…I come to you tonight as part of a unified group of high school boosters throughout the county and as a concerned member of the Harford County community to express our strong opposition to the proposed pay-to-Play amendment. You will hear from many different high schools booster clubs this evening, all with different concerns and valid points; however, our voices are united in our purpose for attending tonight – that is, please do not change policies that require payment for participation in athletics. Say NO to Pay To Play.
Our concerns bring many questions to the board: Who will be exempt from Pay to Play? How will it be determined and monitored? Who will be monitoring these students and who will see that it is done fairly across the county?
…In addition, we are also concerned that some athletes will be discriminated [against] based on their ability to pay. There are many families in our community who are suffering economically, but do not qualify for FARMs…
…We also believe that academics must be brought into the issue of Pay to Play… Statistics show that participation in sports correlates to high academic achievement…”
From the C. Milton Wright Mustangs:
“…Families are already undertaking many hardships, middle class families are barely making it, with no raises and more bills and higher taxes…
…The pay to play policy will put Harford County Students at a disadvantage when competing for college admissions with other Maryland students who are able to continue to fully participate in sports and clubs.
…We the Mustang Boosters oppose the pay to play and believe it would be dangerous for our children. There would be too much free time at hand. What will they do with all this spare time but possibly get in trouble.”
From the Edgewood Rams:
“Charging a fee for each individual activity that a student chooses to be a member of, gives them a sense of ownership and a right to have a spot on that team. They pay the fee in order to be able to be a part of that team or group. In athletics, what happens if a player becomes ineligible or injured during the season?
…What happens if a sport cannot field a team throughout the entire sports season? For years, schools, particularly the smaller schools, have started seasons fielding varsity and junior varsity squads in sports. Sometimes these squads are low in numbers to begin with but every effort is made to keep as many athletes involved in the athletic programs when possible. As the season goes on, eligibility issues and injuries often cause teams to fold in the middle of the season. How is the fee issue going to be handled in a situation like this?”
From the Fallston Cougars:
“Harford County Board Of Education Denies Students Rights. Is this a headline you would like to see?? Of course not. And neither do we. But this is a real consequence many students of Harford County will face this fall. …Pay to Play, is in opposition to a long standing HCPS Policy titled: ‘Student Rights and Responsibilities—Student Activities”. It reads, “Students have the right to participate in school activities regardless of race, religion, ethnic origin, gender, disability, economic status or program of study.
Pay to Play will hinder the opportunity for students to partake in as many activities as they would like and will ultimately lead to a reduction of activities offered due to low participation. These programs can be some of the most rewarding, memorable, challenging and prominent influences of a young adult’s growth during their high school careers.
…Many colleges use these extra-curriculars as the tiebreakers for acceptance between otherwise equally qualified applicants.”
From the Joppatowne Mariners:
“The feeder areas for Joppatowne High school are Edgewood and Joppatowne. Because of this JHS has a diverse group of students coming from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds…There are many students who are right on the line of qualifying for reduced lunches.
…Historically, Joppatowne High school’s athletic teams are smaller in number than other HCPS teams… Imposing a fee for all athletes will reduce this number even further. Even if we lose one or two students, we may have to fold JV players into Varsity. This is not fair to anyone. There are kids who want to try a sport for the first time or have limited experience. They are truly at a JV level. They will not be able to keep up with the pace of a varsity sport. For Joppatowne High school, losing one or two athletes because they can’t afford the $50 fee may mean that another 7-10 kids cannot play a sport on their appropriate level. This will eventually impact our varsity teams. Our athletes will not be able to compete with surrounding schools which will once again lead to low school spirit and a self- worth.
Some of our best athletes are not kids that came up from rec who have been playing a particular sport for years. Some of these kids could not afford to play rec sports. They come from single parent households where getting a child to practice 2-3 nights a week is not possible. They waited until high school to try out for a sport and discovered they are really good at it. Enacting the pay to play policy could possibly keep these kids from ever discovering how gifted they are in a particular sport.
As one of the oldest high schools in the county, is it fair to charge our athletes the same fee as athletes who get to play in a new school with new equipment, on a turf field? Some of the board has been to Joppatowne High School for a visit. Can you honestly say that our school is on the same level as most of the other high school? We continuously have to fight for modernization but now our athletes are going to be asked to pay the same fee as everyone else but we don’t get treated like everyone else. If you are asking everyone to pay the same fee, they should all have the same amenities.”
From the North Harford Hawks:
“If a student fails to pay will this become an ‘obligation’ on their record that prevents further participation and / or graduation? Passing this policy with so many unanswered questions and concerns does not foretell a successful implementation.
The overriding objection to pay-to-play is that public schools should be obligated to provide extracurricular activities free of charge as part of a free education. As Maryland residents we already pay taxes to support public education.”
From the Patterson Mill Huskies:
“Unfortunately it appears that the Board has taken a very myopic approach in an effort to solve a short-term budget problem without considering the long-term consequences. If students are charged fees to play interscholastic sports, then the Athletic Boosters from each school will suffer in their membership and the ability to raise funds… So the effort to raise additional funds to fill a short term gap – will actually cause the schools to suffer a net loss in support.
Athletic Boosters clubs in Harford County provide a myriad of benefits to their local high schools. The implementation of this new policy will impact their ability to provide uniforms, trainers, equipment, field maintenance and repairs, facility improvements, scoreboards and transportation…Pay to Play will impact the $250,000-$500,000 the Harford County Athletic Boosters clubs raise each year to support all these efforts.Since funds collected do not go back to the sport or athletic department, the Athletic Boosters will be unable to provide funds or assistance to anyone who is impacted by the charge(s). The charter and by-laws of each Boosters Club will not allow them to distribute their funds to the HCPS general fund. Therefore, if the Boosters were asked to step in to provide aid for those affected by the implementation of the $50 per interscholastic sport fee – they would be unable.”
I knew this was not going to go over good. Fail. Bad idea.
your stupid
Although I do not think pay to play is ideal, I can’t help but wonder where all of these people were when teachers and the BOE were asking for support to urge our county government to adequately fund the school system.
It has been clear for months drastic cuts were going to occur if the budget was not funded……no one cared until it was too late.
If the fiscal situation does not improve next year will be worse, maybe a few have finally woken up and will advocate for our schools.
You are right. The warning signs have been there for the past few years. Unfortunately nobody but the teachers showed up at the budget hearings. If things do not change this is what the 14/15 school year could look like – more teacher and staff cuts, additional/higher fees, more transportation changes, program reductions and complete elimination of others, more school schedule changes, and closing under utilized school buildings.
Pay to play and activities fees have been the norm in many school systems across the country and in MD for many years and are a reality for an ever increasing number of school systems. The charges of $50 (pay to play) and $25 (activity fee) are small and reasonable when compared to the hundreds of dollars charged by other school systems. Even parks and reg programs charge more. Other school systems have eliminated sports teams and other clubs altogether as a means to meet budget constraints. Will the Boosters be able to identify where HCPS can find the $500,000 needed to balance the budget? The fees were added to the budget to save teacher positions. Which elementary students should have their class size increased or what high school student should miss out because of course elimination, the result of additional teacher cuts? If parents want their kids to participate they will do what is necessary to make it happen. The Boosters are smart people. If their organizations were made aware of a truly needy student or family of students I feel confident they would be able to find a business or individual that have no by-law restrictions to pay the fees for the student directly to the school system.
What teacher cuts? The Aegis reported that was one big lie. Also reported overall enrollment is down and dropping; how can you say class size will increase? As I see it teacher/parent/taxpayer/BURBEY = another lying teacher!
A family member has their Masters in teaching and has an interview for HCPS. I thought a bunch of teachers were let go because of the budget. Here is someone that doesnt have a job currently in HC and yet gets an interview
What are they teaching. Math special ed and Science teachers are getting jobs places that pay better
Elementary Education
This person got an interview because other people left the system and created an opening.
They got the job in the school they wanted too
All Lies, teachers are resigning and/or retiring! There aren’t openings in elementary but I know about high school openings… a math teacher just resigned, and I know there’s only one English position. PLUS, they may still do interviews in order to have a list of teachers to call for long-term sub positions (sickness or pregnancy leaves) and other similar scenarios.
I do not know what the Aegis reported, but the fact of the matter is that teaching positions have been eliminated. HCPS has eliminated teaching positions in the past, but the reduction in staffing has usually been handled through attrition and not resulted in any teachers getting a “pink slip.” This year it originally appeared that the cuts would outpace the rate of attrition and so in mid-June Human Resources visited schools and told various teachers (that were planning on returning to HCPS for the 2013-2014 school year) that their positions were going to be eliminated and they would not have a job.
In the time since then, other teachers have left the system, thus opening positions for the “cut” teachers to be hired back to the school system. The fact remains that teaching positions have eliminated.
If you are a visual learner please examine the example below:
•A school has a staff of 100 teachers for the 2012-2013 school year.
•In June 2013 the Principal is informed that his/her 2013-2014 staffing will be 93 teachers (7 positions eliminated)
•As of June 15, 2013 4 teachers have indicated that they be leaving the system at the conclusion of the school year.
•On June 16, 2013 3 additional teachers are informed that they will no longer have a position with HCPS (they have been “cut”).
•By July 1, 2013 4 additional teachers inform HCPS that they will not be returning for the 2013-2014 school year.
•HCPS is now able to hire back the original 3 “cut” teachers and hire 1 additional teacher.
•The fact remains that for a school that had 100 teachers in 2012-2013 they now have only 93 teachers for the 2013-2014 school year.
Teaching positions have been eliminated and for you to label a person, or an entire profession, as a liar is erroneous and ignorant at best and libelous at worst; either way you are incorrect.
The Aegis reported that teachers were called back. That does not mean the positions were not cut. It means teachers left which resulted in openings.
Student enrollment has also declined by over 1500 students in the last 7 years. As a result, positions should have been cut below the level 7 years ago.
Do you run the school system? Do you know what is needed to run a school system? If you do, then offer better solutions, not criticism.
My school lost 3 positions and we are the largest in the county
there’s no cap per child, none per family, nor is there an explanation as to why the fee for sports is higher than the fee for activities. many children do sports and activities. These children also do fundraising for their teams/activities to supplement uniforms, fees, educational materials, etc… that are not provided by HCPS. Multiply that by three or more kids er family; for one child it’s expensive enough.
Sports teams generally cost more for the school system to support – larger number of coaches/sponsors needed, more participants, more games, greater transportation needs, need to pay officials, light the stadium/gymnasium, pay for security, etc. The stipend paid to coaches is usually higher than for most clubs and teams often have more than one coach. Students (and their parents) make a choice to participate in these activities so the need for the relevant equipment and supplemental uniforms should be their responsibility. My family got to a point where our children wanted to be involved in so many things we could not physically go in that many directions at once. We finally sat down with them and said we couldn’t afford to do everything so they had to pair down their choices of sports and activities. They survived and so did we. Check any of the parks and rec programs and see what they charge, especially youth sports. They give little or no break to families with multiple participants from a single family and their fees often are significantly higher than the new school fees.
Each game also requires several teachers (non-coaches) as chaperones. Someone has to watch the till and the gate, others watching the students in the stands, etc.
Come on Harford County we are only asking for 24 Million extra dollars. If you add 24 Million to the budget all will be ok. Next year we will only need and extra 10 Million.
So you want $24M this year and another $10M next year. Geez why not ask for 50 BILLION.
NO! NOT $24 million! The schools only asked for $22 million more and would only need an extra $7 million each year after. That request was denied. I guess the County Executive felt we would all be happy and stay quiet with the SMALL $1.9 million increase he allowed. Enrollment is only down roughly 350 students. That does not justify the county rejecting the school board’s request for a $22 million increase this year.
“… only need an extra $7mil each year after.”
And that is why we’re in this mess. A line has to be drawn saying that no additional funding will be tolerated, or our taxes will continue to spiral out of control.
The property tax continues to go down
And that’s a good thing.
Cdev,
Has the property tax gone down, or just the revenue from the tax?
We already pay to play. We pay to learn, take a bus, join school clubs, eat lunch and yes – to play. It’s called TAXES and I haven’t stopped paying them, how ’bout you? Just like at the beginninng of the summer when the county announced planned cuts and the administration throughout the county seemed exempt from those cuts, I want to see cuts in admin everywhere before we start this nonsense. Why the heck are elementary schools strapped with a Principal and a Vice-principal?? Look around – there is a lot of wasted cash in our schools (forget about the rest of the county) but now they want more.
Kharn you seemed to indicate they are going up!!!!
Craig says it is the tax!
If this fee is necessary for the academic programs in Harford County schools, by all means do it, however it should be universally applied to all students, with no exceptions…THAT is how we will determine whether or not it’s fair or not.
These fees do not apply to academic programs. The fees are for extra-curricular activities which are NOT necessary for graduation. If the school system offered none of the sports programs or after school clubs students would still graduate with a high school diploma. That is the point, these are extras. There are public school systems that do charge an added fee for some academic classes such as AP (aside from the exam fee which is paid to College Board), classes with science labs, extra class materials like books, etc. We are not there yet but may not be that far away.
Participation in sports programs has nearly zero to do with academics – mostly done for prestige and fun by the kids and in many cases for the dads who then live vicariously through their children and in a very few cases might even lead to a lucrative professional career. Taxpayers I think are supportive of sharing the costs to ready responsible, capable citizens. I find it laughable as a fellow Fallstonian that Fallston parents would whine about $75.00 so thier kid can play. That $75.00 barely keeps the stadium lights on. How many Cadillacs and Mercedes in the driveways of 4500 sq. ft. homes and still want the taxpayers to subsidize your kids non-academic activities. If you’re that broke maybe shouldn’t have bought the great big house or considered a Honda instead. When did it happen that the idea that taxpayers ought to pay for almost everything? They’re your kids – you want them to learn to play a game you pay for it.
It’s the principle Money Tree. Just like the stupid rain tax, and the bay restoration fee and many others (which, by the way have all been squandered by the State on other projects). Sure many of us can cough up $75, but we are already paying for this in our taxes – a rate than once added up from payroll, State, Fed, unemployment, sales taxes, blah, blah, blah, is approaching 50% for everyone except the very well off. If you are inclinded to say we are not, then what has been going on for the past 50 years or more? There hasn’t been a “fee” in the history of the county so how on earth have they been able to swing it for so long?
I agree completely. Actually if you add all the hidden taxes from everyday purchases such as gas, alcohol, tolls, etc. I bet we pay 60% or more in taxes – it’s horrendous and grossly unfair to people that work very hard to support their families and responsibly prepare for retirement. Those funds no doubt to a very large degree are squandered or redistributed to other people – welfare recipients, criminals, drug addicts where it becomes money with no return and down the rat hole. I say pay to play is also about the principle of the thing. These are games…it’s not math or science. Some parents encourage participation as a way to get some scholarship money for college. If it’s that important to you pay the $75.00 bucks – they’re your kids. Particularly since taxpayers once again subsidize sports scholarships and college sports.
Finally parents are getting upset!! No one cared that the last 2 years teaching positions were cut and now class sizes(in some elementary schools) are reaching 28-29 per class. Explain to me why parents have no problem paying for all the rec’ leagues their children have played in from the time they were five and now cry hardship in high school? This is the new norm parents!!! Many districts do this to help save money. I for one, am happy the Board decided to look else where instead of cutting more postions. I don’t want my child’s school to have 29 kids in a class!!
There is no correlation between playing sports and getting an education.
Cancel all county funded sports programs and put the money to a good use.
If you want your kid to play sports pay for it, nothing is free.
I fully agree, read my comment further down the page.
Sadly, I see this as a reflection of society as a whole………look at how we glamorize sports to the point where we pay athletes millions of dollars to do nothing more than entertain us. How much money do we spend on stadiums, personal seat licenses, tickets to the game, etc., and yet, when it comes to spending money on education, then people get into an uproar and don’t want to pay for it.
Which is going to get you further in life, a good education, or the ability to play a sport?
@Fallston Cougars- since when is playing a sport a Right? That clause you quote legally cannot be held up in a court of law – do you really think that the Board of Education would have instituted Pay to Play unless they cleared it legally first?
Like many others on the Dagger’s boards, I find it really sad that the past few years, when teachers have been crying about the lack of funding, very few cared, but now that they have dared to touch the all holy sports program, now people are up in arms…..
I wish I had an easy solution to suggest where to cut from the budget, and how reduce the waste – but where I see things as waste, someone would see it as absolutely necessary.
Really? – The assertion that extracurricular activity is a student ‘right’ is taken from the HCPS Policy titled: ‘Student Rights and Responsibilities—Student Activities”. This is not just about sports…that’s just the easy target to focus on. Honor Society, Dance, Drama, PBJ (make sandwiches for homeless), Chemoathon, Destination Imagination, Chess, ….. on and on it goes; will be charged a fee. Every kid needs an opportunity to belong, whether it is an athlete, academic of civic/community-minded student. A family with two moderately achieving kids can easily pay $400-$500 per year…and every school has students that come from families that are economically stressed. Yes “even Fallston”.
If that’s true then the HCPS policy needs to be changed. Activities above and beyond the normal academic curriculum should not be the full responsibility of the taxpayer. Nobody is asking parents to foot the entire bill but certainly $75.00 is completely within reason.
If fees are an issue students can become involved in their communities through organizations outside of school based activities. Actually colleges look for this. It shows that extra effort is taken to engage and perform with such groups, school based activities are viewed as taking less effort to access.
Actually td if you read the section applying to “student rights” they clearly differentiate between activities as described in 02-0038-000 in which you refer and in which a fairly generic reference to a right to participate exists vs. 02-0010-000 where more specific reference is made to extracurricular activities. It is defined differently and describes participation as dependent upon academic performance and other measures. It says nothing about any guaranteed right to participate. I would add however that in neither case does that right as defined even remotely imply any activity is gauranteed to be free of cost to the participant.
The document, which is long, outlines the students rights and responsibilities in school. Amongst it outlines that activities are a privilege and what responsibilities you have with that. Anyone who read it would not think participation is a right.
Pretty sure Cdev this will be the only thing we ever have and ever will agree on.
People retired after the cuts were announced.
Kids that don’t play sports help pay for sports.
Schools should pay for school. Sports aren’t school. If the booster clubs have such a huge issue, why don’t they put together a fundraiser and pay for their kids fees? 100 kids on the football team, 5k shouldn’t be that hard to raise, especially for these driven, motivated booster clubs.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation. This is JUST not about sports, nor is JUST about teachers’ salaries. For Jesse and many others, this is regarding National Honor Society, which is non profit along with all the other clubs and organizations in our school. NHS raises money t o donate to charities. So why would we pay to join a group our children earned? Band, Yearbook, Newspaper are classes at most of our schools, not extra curricular activities. Yet we would pay. Math, chess, SGA, Best Buddies, Foreign Language National Honor Society, etc. are all clubs we would be paying for our children to be a part of. The Booster organizations are not JUST referring to sports, but are looking at the entire picture of ALL school activities.
I heard that activities that are specifically related to a class will not be charged a fee. Here is a thought, how about the school system stop paying stipends for all coaches and clubs sponsors. If teachers desire they can volunteer their time at no cost to the system. No school staff volunteers, then open it up to volunteers not employed by the school system, no outside volunteers no team or club. If parents are that interested they should be willing to step up just like they do for parks and rec programs and other community youth organizations. Also, the specific school sport/club could foot the bill for all their equipment and transportation to games or events (this happens in other states). Each team/club could have its own booster organization to raise funds to pay the costs.
The problem with opening up coaching or sponsoring of activities by people outside of the school is liability. School system employees are fingerprinted and background checked. I think that all volunteers would need the same and who’s going to pay for the liability insurance
Oh sure, take more money away from the teacher or staff member. Because they make so much money to start with, they will surely be able to volunteer their time and effort at no cost. Maybe they can make up that stipend working another job. I mean, they probably sleep 6 or 7 hours a night… they could probably pick up a second or even third job during that time. Good solution.
I have to laugh at all the parents complaining on here about the pay to play fees. Exactly how much do all of you pay for all the rec activities that your kids are in? A guy I work with was giddy that he would only have to pay $50/$25, he says he pays $300+ for one so what’s the big deal? Are you afraid to tell your kids that horrible two letter word NO, if you don’t have the money? After school activities are a privilege not a right.
I know many parents whoa eagerly pay hundreds even thousands of dollars for their children to play club sports, go to summer sports camps, and workout with trainers. If it is related to the public schools, then they draw the line. Harford County residents do not want to pay more taxes, but nobody had a problem if it was teachers who were being negatively affected, but sports teams, well that is just unacceptable. It appears that many families place more emphasis on sports than their children’s education.
WOW! Bet the boosters didn’t think they would get this reaction from the taxpayers of Harford county. Looks like it’s time they re evaluate their position because they really screwed the pooch on this one.
Currently there are no teaching jobs posted on the HCPS website.
“students have a right to play sports”
Nice feel good wordsmithing, but try to use another word in place of “right,” because there is no right for this particular quoted example.
Once again I say let the Parks and Rec Dept handle sporting events. These programs are a drain on schools and a burden on teachers. I repeat, let the Parks and Rec Dept handle sports programs.
OMG you have to pay for something you use imagine that! Quit crying, if you are upset let kick the politicians and school board members out of office that spend your tax payer money foolishly. It’s not just the current clowns in office but all the previous generations that handed the torch off to them.
I graduated Fallston in the mid 2000’s and didn’t play any high school sports, although I wanted to join their ice hockey team which at the time was unfunded which meant the kids families had to pay out of pocket. So instead I played rec league and that was still like $300 for 12 weeks plus all the equipment and jerseys. $50 for a whole semester of extra, not mandatory, activities is nothing. Also consider those families who send their kids to private school/homeschool and still have to pay high taxes for other people’s kids to goto public school. If your kid is home schooled or in private school then you should get a tax break to cover for your kid’s needs. They are paying between 5k-12k or more out of pocket for their student plus the tax for public school kids.
What HCPS needs to do is cut the b.s. out of the budget. Why do they keep rebuilding new schools when other ones are under populated? Why does Bel Air High have big flat screens in the cafeteria? Why did every classroom at Fallston have a TV mounted from the ceiling (old tv’s at the time, they probably upgraded to flat screen by now). Teachers didn’t use them but twice a year for the most part. HCPS spends their budget foolishly on luxury items that have nothing to do with learning. Why don’t you ask how much a floor mat costs at the entrance of the schools (hint: it’s way more expensive than you think). The maintenance dept. is very underfunded as well, I know because I worked for them.
TPP,
Sounds like you got an education somewhere along the line. You are smart enough to identify the problem as waste combined with entitlement mentality.
Parents and taxpayers are not anti-education, they are anti-waste.
I am glad that you want to cut waste in HCPS, but some of the suggestions you have made are not realistic. Rebuilding older schools is sometimes more cost effective than remodeling. Also, part of new schools is funded by the state. The population issue has been addressed by changing school boundaries. Flat screen TV’s; maybe you did not use them much. But I use mine everyday in my classroom.
But do you NEED a tv to teach? How did children learn prior to the invention of the tv?
Your tv’s are like the smart boards at HCC. Every classroom has them, but most teachers have no clue how to use them and just use it as a projector screen. They are a waste (for the most part from what I’ve witnessed).
Please explain to me how flat screens in a cafeteria is used to teach.
By that logic should kids still use slide rules?
Using a slide rule would provide much better instruction than the buttonology of the calculator currently taught, as the students would have to understand the underlying concept of what they’re doing, instead of just which button to hit, but finding current teachers who understand how to use it would be difficult.
So if it is partly funded by the State then who gives a crap because it is like money from the tooth fairy? Spy1020, you need to get a lesson in finance. TPP has gotten a better education and has more common sense than his/her teachers.
I think many of the conforts found at Fallston area schools have come from their PTA.
I am a former Aberdeen High School all star, growing up very poor my family could not afford to eat at times let alone pay for the extra activities. Playing ball along with good grades was my only shot at college. I was selected to play college ball and I became one of the best football players in college football, I was later selected to play for the NFL. Playing ball was the only avenue to a better life for me.
Ok obviously you took a passion and used it to further yourself and are one of the many success stories. That said you appear to be very literate. I assumed you learned that in school which was the main part of being a student athlete. Unfortunately the funding for activities is not there without further damaging the educational setting. There are provisions for students who are in the financial situation you grew up in. Want to change this? Talk to the people who decide how much money schools get. Hint….. It is not the BOE!
Playing football was not the only avenue for you. Education was also an avenue. The education was there for you even if you didn’t play a sport. Think of all the others who were not all stars, and never played a sport who are now doing well, raising family’s and productive in our society.
Congratulations to you on your success, but to believe you could only have been successful through football is false.
I think his point is that he did get an education. Football was the carrot he needed at the time. It is a valid point. For many kids activities are the incentive when they get older they realize their passion and make a living at it.
I have lived in this County for five decades now and I just cannot remember a time where our elected and appointed officials have been so dysfunctional. There is a severe lack of maturity, accountability and leadership. It gets even worse at each successive level of government. Everyone understands the confiscation of their hard earned income through taxation, but we have been also fee’d to death in this state for years now. When someone gets fee’d, they howl just like the boosters and families are doing now. Then we have folks attack them for protesting and tell them to just shut up and pay. Whenever a new fee is imposed, it just gives the government the impetus for feeing someone else for something else. Somewhere and sometime, all citizens must band together to stop all of this ridiculousness. But, for the government the fee is the best scheme of taxation since there will always be a larger group of people not having to pay a particular fee and they can easily divide and conquer through a million little cuts.
All fees are not created equal. If you want your kids to learn to dance you ought to pay for it – at least some of it. $75.00 is a drop in the bucket for the costs to keep a dance instructor on hand, turn on the lights, clean the room, buy the equipment, etc., etc. There’s no difference between dance, drama or fly fishing when you compare the return on investment. How silly to think the taxpayers would be obligated to subsidize fly fishing lessons, bus the kids to the Gunpowder, supply waders and rods…silly and no different than most of the extracurricular activities as they exist.
Hey Money Tree – Let me educate you. If you are referring to Dance Teams, they are already funded by students and parents.
If that’s the case then more the reason parents should at least help defer the costs for other extracurricular activities.
Already do The Money Tree – its called taxes…. This fee is just a backdoor tax. Sounds like you really don’t understand the importance of Team Sports, Clubs and other social events. The school system encourages all students to be involved in non-class activities.
I encourage students as well – be all you can be. Join all the clubs you want and because it’s that important to both you and your parents that you be an active participant please offer a small stipend of $75.00, (about the same as filling up the tank of an SUV) per activity to help defray a small percentage of costs.
Fine then…forego the child tax credit – turn it over to the county if you want the public to pay for activities that have nothing to do with education.
@Ed Just because it is encouraged does not mean the school system (taxpayers) should have to completely pay for or subsidize these extras.
Money tree and Other Teachers – How come the Teachers Kids don’t need to pay the fees? Or do I have that wrong?
Good question – I certainly don’t think anyone should be exempt. Comes under the same category as free tuition for the kids of university professors and anyone that works for MD colleges in any capacity. Ridiculous really.
Why are HCPS teachers exempt from this fee yet other HCPS employees are not?
An excellent question. Surely there is a credible answer. Moreover, why would anyone be exempt from the fee?
If you remember from the June BOE meeting, the sports fee was initially proposed to be $35 and then they arbritrarily increased it to $50 on the spot before the vote. I’m surprised they didn’t just make it $100 from the get-go since that is where it is going as a new revenue source to be tapped. No real thought went into it and as with anything the government does there will be immeasurable unintended consequences. What I was shocked by was the new Spicer policy that sports teams and clubs (or is it now extracurricular activities under the new policy) can no longer meet or have celebratory functions at team members’ homes. The only person on the dais to question such a ludicrous policy was the student rep who twice asked Spicer to provide details of alleged problems that this caused. Of course, Spicer had no answer and the adult board members seemed to care less. Looks like another policy rubber stamp by a board that is three fries short of a happy meal. Hey board members – WAKE UP!
Prohibiting club meetings in people’s homes does seem odd and counterproductive. Not sure it’s even remotely enforceable either.
No but it protects them from a lawsuit. It is enforceable if you break it…. Cancel the group!
The $40/$20 (sports/activities) fees were used to see how much money could be raised. The final figure of $50/$25 was determined as a way to reduce the planned number of classroom teachers by about a dozen from being cut from the system.
You may be right that these fees could be raised and others added next year if the school system is forced between fees and cutting classroom teachers, which affects every student not just those that participate in extracurricular activities.
Cdev has a point about the liability of school sponsored teams/clubs meeting in private homes. There have been some recent well publicized incidents in Harford County of students having home parties where alcohol and drugs were openly used, with parent homeowners who deliberately turned a blind eye (or even provided the booze). The police had to get involved. I remember several years ago the St. Pauls School lacrosse team (then ranked number one in the country for high school lacrosse teams) had a party at the home of a student member. The video of a team member having sex with a female classmate (secretly taped) was shown at the party. When it discovered by school officials they took the courageous action of cancelling the entire season and disciplining (including expulsion) of team members. Just because meetings happen on private property does not absolve or shield the school system from responsibility for the activities that take place during those gatherings. Our country is already sue happy and there is no need to expose yourself unnecessarily and prudent to minimize your risk where you have little or no control, like private homes. Restricting these kind of meetings at the homes of staff is a no brainer. How many incidents involving staff/student sexual relations have been in the press lately?
I like pay to play. It will weed out some kids so marginal athletes can make the teams.
And make room for the less than marginal kids whose parents have the money.
I just skimmed the entire bunch of postings and I have come to the conclusion that we, as a country, are in even more trouble than I imagined.
Why? Because there is no similar expressions of outrage from the Math Booster Club, or the Science Booster Club, or the English Booster Club, etc. In fact there likely aren’t any academic booster clubs to speak of. How did we get our priorities so screwed up? We are indeed a ship of fools sailing thru rough seas to a port that doesn’t exist.
The outrage from the academic “booster club” is the outrage you have been hearing from teachers for years.
For once, Jaguar Judy, I agree with you.
To expand on your post: it is because, as a whole, society looks at people that tend to be highly involved in math and/or science to be nerds/geeks/losers, and glamorizes the sports jocks/cheerleaders and perpetuates these stereotypes – if you watch the programs on TV you will still see this, even in most children’s programs!
I tried for years to get students interested in a science club after school, but to no avail because ‘it interfered with sports practice,’ or ‘I don’t want my friends to know I’m a nerd.’ It is very hard to help further a student’s interest when they are afraid that they may be viewed by their peers and social groups as a nerd, and thus ostracized as such.
Before any of you think that I have a vendetta against athletes or cheerleaders – I don’t – I have taught many of both who are very intelligent, and really do want to excel in math, science, AP history, etc. – but they don’t want their peers to know for that fear of being labelled a ‘nerd.’ Sad, really, when you think about it.
Does a HS football coach follow the same step salary schedule as any other teacher? Since it’s a public position, can we see these numbers broken down by school? Does a football coach teach anything else for the rest of year once the season is over?
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