UPDATE: Lakeville’s School Board Stands Behind Last-Minute Activity Fee Plan

A last minute proposal to try and mitigate extra-curricular fee increases at Lakeville's high schools received board support during a work session on Thursday night and could be adopted as part of a larger budget solution on Tuesday.

The Lakeville Area Public School District is facing a over the next two years and were at the heart of an ongoing dialogue on how to reduce costs for the district and generate revenue at the same time.

Lakeville school district administrators and two board members, Jim Skelly and Bob Erickson, spearheaded the plan presented Thursday, which was finished just a half hour before the board’s work session, according to Superintendent Gary Amoroso.

The plan rolled gate receipts from hockey—which generate $18,000 annually—as well as a new, $25 seasonal pass per participant for non-gate receipt sports, into a new plan that greatly reduced fees when compared to a proposal presented last week.

The new plan also adopts parts of a different proposal administrators presented on Thursday that includes an overall activity budget savings of $588,200, and saves all of the sports and activities once on the chopping block.

While not official until a board vote, the 2011-2012 fees as presented include (to see the fees paid this year, scroll to the bottom of the story):

High school sports:

Tier 1: hockey: $630
Tier 2: basketball, gymnastics, golf and volleyball: $440
Tier 3: adaptive sports, alpine and nordic skiing, competition cheer, dance, cross country, softball, tennis and track: $295
Tier 4: football, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving and wrestling: $270

High school activities:

Tier 1: debate and speech: $215
Tier 2: chess, Math League, mock trial and Science Olympiad: $150
Tier 3: drama, musical, and one act play: $135
Tier 4: intramurals: $75

For an activity such as debate, which was originally listed as a program to be eliminated, the new fees are an increase of just $25 per participant. For sports though, the increases are far greater. For example, basketball players will pay $190 more next year. Hockey players will pay $350 more next year.

Several of the groups on the chopping block in the first, Jan. 5 budget draft, including gymnastics, golf, competition cheer, debate and lacrosse, offered plans to become cost neutral to the district. Those plans were included in the proposal on Thursday.

"I’m actually amazed that we’re able to put these types of fees in front of you," Amoroso said.

But while activities and sports are spared, music and choir, industrial technology, and elementary arts programming is still in line to be cut when the board votes on the eliminations Tuesday.

All told, to save the $15.8 million over the next two years, the board will likely vote on tuesday to close an elementary school next year, eliminate roughly 82 teaching positions, cut bus routes, and adjust start school times all in addition to the activity fee changes.

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Fees this year:

High school sports:

Tier 1: hockey, basketball, competition cheer, dance and gymnastics: $280
Tier 2: nordic and apline skiing, swimming and diving and wrestling: $250
Tier 3: all other sports: $230

High school activities:

Tier 1: debate and speech: $190
Tier 2: chess, Math League, mock trial and Science Olympiad: $150
Tier 3: drama, musical, and one act play: $110
Tier 4: intramurals: $75