BOE Implements Student Activity Fee, Exempts Marching Band

After removing the marching band from the policy, Board of Education members officially implemented the new student activity fee on Tuesday evening.

The finalized fee will be implemented in a two tier structure, depending on the type of activity the student participates in. The fee is being implemented as part of the district's response to Gov. Chris Christie's decision in March to slash state education aid to Westfield by $4.22 million. The fee is expected to generate $184,000 in revenue annually for the board.

The fee will encompass guidelines outlined two weeks ago by the school district. Students on athletic teams and participating in drama activities in the intermediate and high schools will pay $125 a year and students in all other clubs at the intermediate and high school levels will pay $60 a year. The $60 a year fee will also include elementary school students participating in all city activities. The fee will be one time for the year for all activities and a student who participates in activities in both tiers will pay the $125 for the year.

Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan said the high school marching band was exempted from the policy after consultation with the board attorney based on the band's status as an academic class at the high school. She said this would run contrary to state laws requiring a free public education.

"These fees are for programs that are before and after school," Dolan said.

BOE member Mitch Slater asked if the exemption of the marching band will have any impact on the revenue goals for the year. BOE Business Administrator Robert Berman said that the exemption will not have any adverse impact on the revenue goal, but would have assisted. In addition to the marching band, the high school color guard is exempt since it is an academic course.

The policy notes that the fee is to be paid before participation in an activity. The fee will be refunded to a student who tries out for a sports team or dramatic production and does not get in, if they are not already in another part of the extracurricular program.

Dolan said the school system is in the process of setting up a payment system for the fee. She noted that coaches and club advisors will help in getting the word out about the fee. The policy was passed Tuesday due to the summer practice schedule of high school athletic teams.

Dolan noted that the fee committee has put in place a system that allows the district to exempt a student in the case of financial hardship. Students in that case are encouraged to talk to a coach, advisor, administrator or Dolan about being exempted from the fee. She said the goal of the policy is not to exclude anyone from participation in extracurricular activities.

Dolan noted that she has had discussions with a resident about the resident donating to assist students with financial hardships with the fee. In addition she noted that the fee application will include language saying that parents can make additional donations when paying for their child to offset the costs of those with financial hardships.

The student activity fee has become a popular measure for school districts to raise additional revenue following the state aid cuts by Christie. Dolan noted that she has talked to many colleagues around the state who are implementing the fee this year. Westfield's fee came in response to a proposal to cut eighth grade athletics, intermediate school fall dramas and intramural sports.

BOE President Julia Walker noted that the student activity fee is one mechanism to help fund as many programs as possible in the new fiscal era.

"We are a group of people who have become very accountant minded," she said. "The money raised under the activity fee does not fund a specific anything. It is a mechanism we are going to try in order to keep as many activities in our schools as possible."