Newport
Separately, the board voted, 5-0, to back the committee’s recommendation to consider charging home-schooled and private school students from outside Newport who come to the town for sports and other activities. Superintendent Cindy Gallagher was directed to begin discussions with superintendents from those districts, including Goshen and Croydon.
Board member Virginia Irwin opposed the motion against a fee.
Those in support of the committee’s recommendation said it wasn’t going to raise much money and it could hurt participation, even if the fee were reduced for financial hardships.
“The cost-benefit ratio does not make sense to me,” board member Ann Spencer said.
Board member Tim Renner, who made the motion to support the committee’s recommendation, said he believed money for extracurricular activities is already in the budget and the district should appropriate more money if necessary, not charge a fee.
“Why charge a fee for something they are already paying for?” Renner asked.
In response to her fellow board members, Irwin said the revenue may not seem like much, but it is enough to cover the cost of a paraprofessional and the district is always “desperate” for money.
As for the administrative overhead to collect the fee, Irwin said, it is not complicated to charge a fee and for those families who don’t pay, their children’s report cards can be withheld.
“It is pretty easy,” she said.
Board Chairwoman Linda Wadensten said she understands both sides, but in the end felt it is the district’s responsibility to provide these opportunities for students.
In the committee’s recommendation, it said the projected revenue of about $20,000 on a total extracurricular activities budget of $357,000, of which $260,000 is for athletics, was not enough to justify a fee.
If it went forward with a fee, the committee wanted the board consider the possibility of decreased participation and also urged the board to look at grants and donations to support extracurricular activities.
The suggested fee was $35 per participant with a family cap of $125.
A survey included in the committee report showed that 75 percent of the 159 respondents opposed a fee for Newport students.
The fee committee was formed in August after voters last March narrowly approved a warrant article at the annual school district meeting calling for a feasibility study on charging students for extracurricular activities.
The School Board put the article on the warrant because there had been talk for years about a fee, and it wanted to resolve the question once and for all.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
