Pay to play one step closer for Flathead

Pay to play, or fund activities some other way?

That is the question before the Kalispell school board now.

With the opening of Glacier High School in fall 2007, the duplication of extracurricular programs will land an estimated $580,000 bill on the desk of school officials who long ago committed to offering similar activities at both Glacier and Flathead high schools.

Flathead Activities Director Mark Dennehy laid out a proposal Tuesday for charging students a $40 fee per activity to participate in Montana High School Association-sanctioned events. Subsequent activities would cost $30 each, with a family fee cap of $170.

He also let trustees know they have the option to come up with their own solution.

But he is asking them to do it by the end of this school year to give ample time to notify students and include information in the 2006-07 student handbook.

Combined with savings from two other initiatives in the proposal - no longer paying for student meals on one-day trips and charging up to $25 for spirit packs - the offset is estimated at just $75,000. That still leaves more than half a million dollars to come from school budgets.

Although nearly every other Class AA school in the state charges fees for students to participate in extracurricular activities, Kalispell long has resisted the trend. Generous support from school boosters, the business community and private individuals has helped make this possible.

By next fall, though, there almost certainly will not be enough to gear up two full programs. In the 2006-07 school year, coaches and administrators will need to start covering expenses for equipment and other needs tied to the fall 2007 startup.

District Clerk Todd Watkins worked with Dennehy on the draft document laying out school procedure. It was developed from discussions that began last September in the school board finance committee.

"It's going to be very expensive to run two high schools," Watkins said, laying out the rationale for adopting the pay-to-play practice. "We need to decide whether to implement it this year [2006-07]."

Agreeing that "revenue is going to be an issue," Dennehy made it clear that he regrets having to charge students to participate.

Currently, participants pay a $20 activity fee that allows free entry to contests. Under the proposal, that would be doubled for the first activity.

It covers all extracurricular activities, including programs such as music or speech and debate, but applies only when a student participates in MHSA-sanctioned events. Thus, there is no fee to take choir class, but the fee kicks in if the student competes in a state festival or in solo and ensemble contests.

A single $40 fee would cover band, orchestra and choir. The same would be true of speech and debate. (Drama is a separate, non-competitive program with its own classes.)

Fees would be collected before the student participates in his or her first sanctioned event.

Fees may be waived for students who are unable to pay.

Trustee Tony Dawson raised the concern that, without a defined policy using given criteria - maybe eligibility for free and reduced lunches, or family circumstances - different coaches could make different decisions about waivers. He also argued that using a standard source for decisions about ability to pay could better protect families' privacy.

Dennehy pledged to institute an accounting procedure in the high school office.

Dennehy admitted that coaches, fearing the slippery slope of bumped-up fees, were apprehensive of the pay-to-play idea at first. But he said most understand the need.

Trustee Mary Ruby urged him to find a way to identify students who don't even try for an activity because of costs. He said coaches can explain the procedure in their spring visits to rural schools, and there will be a concerted effort to publicize the plan in the high school.

Flathead High Principal Callie Langohr said identifying students with special financial needs is difficult, but depends on developing a relationship with students.

"We will find the ones we know," she said, noting that letter jackets, school annuals, exams and other needs already go to students who can use the help. "It's not a policy. We just work with the relationship [already established with students]."

Ruby also made it clear that pay to play was instituted in other schools because of tax levies that did not pass, not because of second high schools being built.

She and trustee Bill Sutton also voiced concern about hitting up businesses for several donations to run programs for two schools in the future.

"It's a bitter pill for all of us to swallow," Dennehy said.

Dawson said he would put his trust in administrators to develop the pay-to-play program and urged the board to give the go-ahead.

"It's the responsible thing to do," Dawson said.

Trustee Keith Regier backed the idea, calling it more of a user fee that gives participants some buy-in and pride in the program.

Dennehy also explained the remaining two pieces to the draft proposal - meals and practice gear, or spirit packs.

Currently, the school pays for all student meals on road trips and at tournaments. The proposal eliminates that for the first day of any trip, but allows up to $18 per student for those who stay overnight for a second and successive days. Meals would be covered at all postseason MHSA-sanctioned events.

Most activities provide some type of spirit pack - shorts, T-shirt, polo shirt, sweats or other identifying items. Under the proposal, teams would be limited to charging a student no more than $25 for the spirit pack.

Also included in the policy is a fundraising provision. Fundraising now provides most of Flathead activities' expenses, most through Booster Club support that is crucial in buying gear, uniforms, video and computer equipment, and other items beyond the school budget.

Dennehy said he has let the boosters know that priorities may need to shift away from those, and more toward providing meals on the road and general operations.

He still is working with Booster Club members to help make that shift in how to provide activity support for the 1,800 participation slots in all activities combined (many students are in more than one activity). Dennehy expects that number to rise to 2,400 when Glacier High opens.

Everybody, he said, may have to accept that some traditions must change.

"We're working hard to come up with ways to make something that's not real palatable, palatable," Dennehy said.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com