BOE Considers Waiving Activity Fees For Service-Oriented Clubs

One of the action items for tonight's Board of Education meeting is whether to waive the activity fees charged for service-oriented clubs at the high school. The issue was brought before the Board at the Nov. 10 meeting after members of the Finance and Facility Committee came to agreement that specific after-school clubs should qualify for a waiver of fees.

Andy Powell, a Board member who is on the Finance and Facility Committee member, said that, after the committee looked at the work and time put in by VISION, the Diversity Club, the Gay/Straight Alliance and the Audio Tech Club, "it was very obvious that they provide a substantial service to the town and also to the Board and school community."

The Finance and Facility Committee looked at these specific clubs after discussion with high school Principal Dominique Fox. "The question came up, in which, considering how much work that they do, considering how much time that they put in, was it appropriate to have a fee structure on them?" Powell said.

VISION members volunteer at Cornerstone Soup Kitchen, the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and the Special Olympics, as well hold can food drives for the Tolland Food Pantry and sponsor two Tolland families in need for holiday meals. The Gay/Straight Alliance volunteers at the AIDS hospice at Hartford Hospital and creates awareness through activities and workshops relating to issues of understanding of gay/lesbian issues. The Diversity Club holds the Hunger Banquet and a Soldier Care Package Drive.

 The Audio Tech Club provides light and audio for every function held in the high school auditorium. Events they cover include this Friday's Madrigal Dinner, 8th Grade Orientation, sports awards nights, school plays and town meetings.

"One of clubs that was really glaring was the Audio Tech Club, in terms of all the work at what they do for the school and also in terms of what they do for us in certain cases for meetings we have all over town," said Powell. "To have the students pay fees while providing near-professional, or in many cases, equivalent professional-level services for the town…"

Activity fees are already waived for the National Honor Society and Student Council. These were recommended last year by the principal of the high school at the time, Joseph Bacewicz, according to Superintendent William D. Guzman. "At the beginning of this year, we had a new principal, and from the feedback we received, that's when we started to generate this discussion," he said.

A senior at the high school, Kevin Shaw, spoke to the negative impact activity fees have already placed on club participation. "In the Diversity Club, we dropped from nine to three juniors. For us seniors, college applications are expensive," he said. "And with the Audio-visual club, without them, our shows wouldn't have been as good."

Board member Gayle Block said, "It makes perfect sense drawing the line at community service. I think we were probably remiss at not doing this when we were looking at making Student Council and the National Honor Society exempt." She recommended that the Board look at all the school clubs and consider waiving fees for all that provide this level of service to the community.

The cost of granting the request for waiving fees for the four aforementioned clubs would be $4,954. According to Powell, the funding for it would come from board savings in other areas, like energy. "We'll be able to cover the costs of these clubs without negatively impacting the Board funds," he said.

As activity fees for other clubs that might be impacted are not collected until they start meeting, according to Principal Fox, the Board agreed it was appropriate to wait until tonight's meeting to take action.

The Board of Education meets in Council Chambers at the Hicks Memorial Municipal Building tonight at 7:30 p.m.