Patch.com: Dexter increases high school sports fees by $150, caps single family contributions at $700

The school board voted 5-1 Monday to raise pay-to-play fees at Dexter High School and Mill Creek Middle School, the Patch article stated.

Instead of paying $100 per sport at the high school with a cap of $300, next year’s students will pay $250 for their first sport, $150 for their second sport and $100 for their third sport. Middle school students will pay $150 for their first sport, $100 for their second sport and $75 for their third sport.

The board set the cap for a single family’s contribution at $700, Patch reported.

Dexter Community Schools now charges more than any other district in Washtenaw County for sports. Saline Area Schools also charges $250 at the high school, however, that fee is a one-time pay-to-participate fee for the year. Saline students can play as many sports as they would like for that price.

Dexter officials recently increased several fees, including lunch prices and facility rental fees. The pay-to-participate fee increase was to help reduce the impact of athletics on the general fund and to move to a more self-sustainable athletic department within five years. Athletics accounted for about $585,000 of the district’s $34 million operating budget last year, Superintendent Mary Marshall said earlier this month.

According to a University of Michigan National Poll on Children’s Health study released in May, the average pay-to-participate fee in the United States is $93 per sport. Twenty-one percent of survey respondents paid $150 or more.

Read the complete report of Monday’s Dexter school board meeting here on Patch.

Staff reporter Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.