Lakeville H.S. Wants To Hike Athletic Fees To Fix Budget

LAKEVILLE (WCCO) -- Lakeville Schools are in money trouble. The district needs to cut more than 15 million dollars from its budget over the next two years. Earlier this month, the Board talked about cutting six sports and several activities. That didn't go over well.

Now, school board member Jim Skelly is pitching another idea. He wants parents to pay 75 percent of the real cost of a sport with the district picking up the rest. Gymnastics would be hit hardest. It has fewer participants, and athletes would pay $600 under the 75/25 formula.

"Parents like art or music, they don't have that option, it's just going to go away," said Skelly. "At least with this one area, we can maintain it. We can use fees to keep the program going."

In the past year, Lakeville North were state champions in volleyball and girls basketball. The Panthers teams are all quite good, but excelling in sports doesn't pay the bills.

Activity fees vary greatly depending on where you live. It costs $155 to play hockey in Woodbury, $180 in Maple Grove and $320 in Blaine. Currently, it costs $280 dollars to play in Lakeville. If Skelly's proposal passes, it would be $450 next year.

"People in Lakeville, they had the opportunity to not make this happen," said Skelly, who was referring to the levy that failed last fall that would have cost taxpayers about $300 per household.

"I wish it would have went through, yeah, not just for the sports, but also for the teachers," said the mother of a Lakeville South volleyball player. "They're talking about doubling her class sizes to 50 students, it's just, that's so hard."

Voters overwhelmingly rejected that levy. Residents like Joseph Caplan think the district may have to cut activities, including sports.

"I'd hate to see it happen," said Caplan. "But I think that might have to happen."

He says he's like to see the district operate the way he does.

"In a regular household, we would have to trim our budget," he said. "We couldn't just go out and ask people for money."

The school board was set to consider three plans at their meeting Monday. The plans would have parents picking up 100, 75 and 64 percent of the sports costs, respectively.

It's worth noting that all the districts we surveyed -- including Lakeville -- waive sports fees for kids who get free lunch. Students who qualify for reduced-price lunch generally pay half-price pay for sports. In Woodbury, they pay even less.

Paula Engelking, Producer
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