Problems with cash for sports in Saugus

SAUGUS – A shortfall in the School Department’s revolving athletic account is throwing another wrench into the budget process.School Committee member Christine Wilson, who sits on the athletic subcommittee, told her colleagues during a recent meeting that there was a possible shortfall. Superintendent Keith Manville said the problem is basic.”The revenue we have taken in does not equal what we anticipated,” he said.Wilson said the subcommittee is keeping an eye on the potential shortage.”But if it is a shortfall, that means athletics are reduced or user fees go up,” she said.Manville said he thinks there are two things driving the shortage – fewer students playing sports and fewer students paying the $350 per sport user fee.User fees were increased for the 2007/2008 school year and Manville said it has taken a toll. He said for the first time since the user fees were instituted in 2002, he has seen a drop in student athletes.”Especially the multi-sport athlete,” he added.With fewer kids playing sports, there are fewer kids paying the fee.Manville said there has also been a significant jump in the number of students in the free and reduced lunch program.”If you’re on free and reduced lunch, you’re exempt from paying any fees,” he said. “And we never raised user fees at the middle school.”The School Department also has a new busing contract this year, which Manville said increased the cost of transporting kids by about $90 per event.That increase may result in fewer buses for some events, which means fewer athletes participating, but Manville said nothing has been decided as of yet.User fees started out as a flat $100 per athlete fee and the student could play any number of sports. But in 2002, fees were raised to $200 per athlete, per sport with no family cap. In 2004, the committee voted to raise fees to $300, but Principal Joseph Diorio called $300 the breaking point for marginal athletes and the cost was lowered to $250 for major sports and $200 for minor sports, such as track.In 2005, the committee discussed a cap when it was faced with a family that had three children playing sports at the high school, which was costing them $2,200 in fees.In 2007, the fees for major sports were bumped up $100 to $350 while Diorio said he would not allow the fees to prohibit any student from playing sports.Despite Wilson’s claim that raising the fees again might be the answer, Manville said Friday it won’t happen this year. With the school year nearly two-thirds over, Manville said it would hardly be fair to increase the fees for only spring athletes.However, the shortage will have to be made up somewhere.Manville said they are looking at trying to spread the costs out to get through this year, “then we’ll reassess the whole thing next year.”