Central Valley considers athletic, activities fees

Students in the Central Valley School District would pay to participate in athletics and activities during the 2010-’11 school year – $25 for middle school students and $55 for high school students – if the school board accepts a budget proposal from the superintendent.

Superintendent Ben Small presented the school board with a proposal for budget cuts next school year at its meeting Monday night.

Small proposed a plan for the 2010-’11 school year that included a $50,000 cut in the nutrition services subsidy the district provides every year, a $50,000 cut in transportation services which could adjust and streamline bus routes, reducing the number of bus stops and increasing the distance some students walk to meet the bus, and $75,000 in reductions from the central office of the district, which could include “departmental budget cuts and/or staffing reductions in administrative, clerical, technical, professional development.”

Small also proposed instituting participation fees of $55 at the high schools and $25 at the middle schools for each sport or activity the student joins. He expects this would generate around $125,000 to retain athletics and activities.

The superintendent said that the district still needs to discuss how this program would work, and whether co-curricular activities would be included or just extracurricular activities.

“We are at the beginning stages of this,” he said.

Small said implementing these four items would save the district $300,000.

Also discussed in community workshops last month were two options for generating revenue for the district.

The district looked into implementing advertising on buses and Small said the state legislature didn’t approve a law that would make that legal, so it was off the table.

The other option was to increase the fees for use of the district’s facilities by outside groups. Small said he wants to take another look at this option before it goes into effect, if approved.

“(We want to make sure) the community gets the services they are paying for,” he said.

The district’s budget will continue to be a topic of discussion at the next school board meeting on May 10.