MONTGOMERY: School board OKs policy implementing student activity participation fee

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — The township Board of Education introduced a policy last week that would implement a student activity participation fee, formalizing a practice that has been in place for many years.
The proposed policy states that “with reduced or limited revenue and increased expenses,” the activity participation fee would contribute to a percentage of the district’s costs for operating school-sponsored activities.
A public hearing and final action on the proposed policy is set for the school board’s March 15 meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Upper Middle School Media Center,
School district officials said that although the practice has been in place for at least a half-dozen years, it was never put in writing. It was suggested at a school board subcommittee meeting to put a written policy in place.
It is not unusual for a school district to implement an activity fee because of costs, said Superintendent of Schools Nancy Gartenberg. The decision to charge an activity fee pre-dates her arrival in the school district, she said.
When the fee was originally implemented, the district charged $75 per student for unlimited activities or sports. The fee was increased to $100 per student for unlimited activities or sports.
Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, the fee has been capped at $200 per family — regardless of the number of children participating. The amount of the fee will be reviewed annually.