WESTFIELD – The School Committee’s Finance sub-committee met on Thursday to discuss whether to increase student parking fees at Westfield High School and athletic fees at both high schools.
Students have been paying $20 a year for parking at Westfield High School for many years. School Committee vice-chair Ramon Diaz, Jr. said he paid $20 to park there. Students are also eligible to get $10 back as an incentive if they are not tardy during the year.
No fees are charged for student parking at Westfield Technical Academy.
The revenue from the parking fee may only be used to pay for maintenance of the parking lot.
“It’s actually a state law,” said WPS business manager Ron Rix. “Anything related to the parking lot.”
A discussion followed about the need to pave the parking lot at the high school at some point. Rix said there have been sections that have been replaced and redone. He said the curbing was finished and pot holes near the entrance of the drive were filled.
“We’re getting to the point in the future that we’re going to have to raise some funds,” said Finance sub-committee chair Kevin Sullivan.
“I don’t think $50 is unreasonable,” said member Cynthia Sullivan. She added the school could then retain the incentive against tardiness by giving a portion back to students.
During the meeting, Diaz noted that there is currently $12,000 in the parking fees account, $3,220 from the year beginning July1. “We haven’t done a lot of maintenance over the years,” he commented.
When asked who did the work on the parking lot at the school, Rix said the school has a city contract with Burke Bros.
Kevin Sullivan said he would be in favor of a slight increase to $30, and to revisit the issue next year.
“Having a car is a privilege. When you have a job in downtown Springfield, you pay $40 to $50 per month for parking,” said Cynthia Sullivan.
Diaz said the School Committee should have some idea of what the cost of paving would be before making a decision. He said his goal would be to cover maintenance with student parking fees.
Rix told him that he would get the estimate in a couple of weeks. The matter will remain in the sub-committee until then.
A similar discussion then followed regarding student athletic fees.
Eileen Flaherty, athletic director for both high schools presented a spreadsheet proposal to increase the fees for playing sports in the schools.
Flaherty tiered the sports and recommended fee increases based on total cost per student per year, including coaching salary, officials, transportation, event personnel, equipment and the facility in the calculation.
The cost per student per year ranges from $66 for cross country to $1,428 for ice hockey, according to Flaherty’s report. Currently, students pay $85 per year per sport.
Flaherty suggested keeping the $85 per year for cross country and tennis (the next lowest cost per student) and increasing the rest of the fees ranging from $100 for cheerleading and golf, to $400 for ice hockey.
She also proposed including some athletic apparel in the increased fee, such as “pinnies,” caps, and water bottles. She would also considered a long-sleeve school athletic shirt that a student would get for participation, and would allow him or her into a game for free.
“With these items, this is something I would include in the fee,” she said.
“This is a lot lower than I thought it would be,” said Cynthia Sullivan.
Flaherty said her concern was the ability of students to pay. She said there is a program of community service in lieu of paying the fee. She said the schools could also offer a 50% reduction to students paying for reduced lunches, and waive the fee for students who quality for free lunches. Flaherty said when a student registered online with his or her family id, they would get the appropriate price online.
Diaz questioned waiving the athletic fee altogether for some students.
“I don’t think we can get rid of it completely,” he said.
Rix said the proposed plan would not bring in more revenue to the schools, due to the added items students would receive with their fees.
“They’re only paying for what they’re using. We’re supplementing what they’re using,” said Diaz.
Several School Committee members suggested raising the minimum fee to $125 or $150, and still offering price reductions.
“All the youth sports in the city start at $150,” said Kevin Sullivan.
Flaherty said she wanted more people to participate in sports. She said numbers are down in football and soccer, and she did not want to discourage anyone from participating.
“I’ve been in Westfield a long time, and we take care of kids who can’t pay,” Rix said.
The School Committee asked Flaherty and Rix to re-calculate revenue when offering reductions, and bring back the numbers to the next meeting.
