Families now pay to join a club, band or team

What happened

From 2026-27 every student in grades 4 to 12 pays a $100 participation fee to take part in an activity, which at elementary level means band, orchestra and chorus, and at middle school means clubs and co-curricular activities as well as sport. Middle school sport and performing arts carry a further $125 for each activity, so a middle schooler who plays a autumn and a spring sport pays $350. Payment is due before the first practice, rehearsal or meeting. The fee is waived in full for families who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, but only if the lunch form is completed, and there is a donation option for families who want to cover another child. Administrators said the middle school gap being closed is about $150,000 and that pricing it to recover that amount would have meant a multi-sport student paying about $1,500.

Why it matters to families

This is a new out-of-pocket cost that arrives before the season starts, so a family that cannot pay in August loses the place rather than settling up later. Administrators told the board the existing $100 fee had gone essentially uncollected for about six years and that they were now checking team lists against payments, so families who were never chased before will be this year. In August a member reported the payment page still did not work on a phone and that the website still carried the old wording. There is still no published route for a family that does not qualify for free or reduced-price lunch but cannot pay, and the district has said full pay-to-play at high school is what happens if the November referendum fails.

The evidence

The July 13, 2026 meeting recording sets out the structure: a $100 base participation fee for grades 4 to 12, an additional $125 per middle school athletic or performing-arts activity, payment due before the first session, a full waiver on a completed free or reduced-price lunch form and a donation option; the superintendent gives the middle school gap as roughly $150,000 and says pricing to recover it would cost a multi-sport student about $1,500. The same recording contains the admission that the collection rate has been abysmal for about six years. The August 19, 2026 recording records the website and phone payment problems. The 2026-27 budget presentation lists the move of middle school athletics and co-curriculars to pay-to-play.

The source