Residents Demand Change at Pay-to-Play Rally

The message was clear at Wednesday night's pay-to-play rally at : athletic fees must be lowered.

More than a hundred Tolland residents showed up at the high school prior to the scheduled school board meeting to tell board members that they want change.

"As parents of athletes, every year the budget comes to vote, and we get squeezed," said rally participant Ken Olson, who said he has two children in high school and another in middle school. He said the family paid around $2,300-2,400 in athletic fees this year alone.

Currently, a student and his or her family pay $275 per sport at the high school level, and $125 at the middle school, without a family cap. It has been proposed that the fees may increase to $325 and $225. 

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"The things that kids learn outside the classroom are just as important," Olson added. "I think they're targeting a small group of people."

Tolland High School juniors and athletes Kierra Laramie and Katy Sprout said that rising fees may force their families to limit the number of sports they can participate in as their younger siblings enter middle and high school.

"My sister will be in high school next year," Laramie said. "We will have to choose."

Many participants said that they learned about the rally through emails from other student-athlete parents. A large number of parents also attended the regularly scheduled school board meeting at the high school to make sure their message was heard.

"If you agree there's value equal to art, music, foreign language, there shouldn't be any reason to charge more for athletics," resident Doug Domian said during the meeting. "The students have become better people by playing sports. We wanted to show the board of education that there is a larger group than just the ten that attended your meeting," he said, referring to a workshop held with the superintendent earlier in the month.

Superintendent William Guzman told Tolland Patch before the school board meeting that the board will be able to make a decision on pay-to-play fees when the fiscal year wraps up in June and the budget balance is better defined.

"I understand their feelings," Guzman said of the residents at the rally. "We are continuously reviewing the current year budget to see what balance we will have by June."

At the meeting, the superintendent said that as of April 26, 2012, the school district had an unexpended balance of $424,991.

There's no doubt that parents and students will be watching as June approaches, hoping for a change.

"We voted. The budget passed. Now let's see what happens," Olson said.

Check out the following Tolland Patch stories on pay-to-play: