SAXONBURG — Students in the South Butler School District will not have to pay a fee to participant in clubs or sports this school year.

The school board voted Wednesday night to reject the proposed student fee for those activities. The fees would have cost middle and high school students $25 for each school-sponsored club they joined, and $50 for each sports team they joined.

The total cost of the fees would have been capped at $200 per family.

The fees would have been waived for students who qualified for the free or reduced lunch program.

To solicit comments about the proposal, school officials posted a survey on the district website. More than 200 residents responded to that survey.

“I was impressed with the gamut of responses,” said Jacqueline Pfeiffer, a board member who spoke against the fee. “When you offer a survey, you very rarely get a lot of responses.”

Parents and students voiced their concerns through the survey. Some said it could reduce extracurricular participation. Some said it wouldn’t be fair for those on sports teams who may not play as often as starting players.

Pfeiffer said she might have considered passing the participation fee if the fees were lower.

Debra Miller was the sole board member who voted for the activity fee.

“It boils down to being fiscally responsible,” she said.

Her intention is not to exclude anyone, but she said there are “thousands and thousands” of dollars that go to sponsor the sports teams. She cited the Mars School District which charges students a $100 athletic participation fee for each sport they play. Mars does not have a fee cap, but it does waive the fees for students who qualify for free or reduced lunches.

Aside from discussion among board members, no residents spoke about the issue at the meeting Wednesday.

The fees would have provided an estimated $60,000 for the general fund in the 2013-14 school year, which was a line item in the $34.2 million district budget passed last month.

Board members will have to come up with an alternative plan to balance the budget. District spokesman Jason Davidek said they could dip into the $200,000 reserve fund to balance the budget.