Butler School District administrators and board members are at least moving in the right direction now, having pared their $106.2 million proposed budget for 2016-17 down to $103 million.

That’s still $2.8 million out of balance — and $3 million more than the 2015-16 budget — even with a projected 3-mill property tax rate increase, the maximum allowed by law. The budget must be finalized by June 30.

Nonetheless, they talk in terms of austerity and lament they’ll have to borrow even more money to install the interactive whiteboards they want for classrooms in the newly consolidated elementary buildings — and more debt might mean the new boards will be wprn out or obsolete by the time they’re paid for. Funny thing how the slate chalkboards that preceded the whiteboards sufficed for decades.

Among the details in the new budget is a proposal to increase revenue by having students and their families pay a fee to participate in band and the high school musical.

Participation fees were introduced for interscholastic sports in the current school year.

Under the current fee schedule, a student athlete must pay $60 before being allowed to play in any junior high, junior varsity or varsity interscholastic game.

There is a $240 cap for families with four or more children participating in sports. Families that qualify for reduced-price school lunches get a discounted fee of $30 per athlete or $120 per family. The fees are waived for families that qualify for free school meals.

The philosophy behind the fee is that it’s a privilege, not a right, to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities.

The implications could be far-reaching, particularly when participation fees reach beyond sports to the extracurricular field of performing arts.

Is the proposed new policy potentially discriminatory? It favors those children whose families can easily afford the fees and those who qualify for free participation, while burdening those families in the middle who are on tight household budgets.

Is it fair for an instrumental music student to pay for his or her own instrument as well as the privilege of representing the school district in band competitions?

And for that matter, is it realistic for students to pay $60 to participate in the musical, even for roles as mundane as handing out the programs or changing the stage sets?

Will the family cap of $240 be bundled for all extracurricular activities, or will the musical, band and athletics participation fees apply separately?

Can the role of booster clubs be modified; for example, can the band boosters solicit sponsors or conduct fundraisers to cover any or all of the student participation fees? And if that’s allowable, then what has been gained by the new fee policy?

The proposal to expand participation fees points to flawed priorities — to a focus on spending when economic conditions dictate a more frugal approach.

The board should reject the participation fee for band and the musical. Instead, they need to redouble efforts to cut expenses, balance the school budget and eliminate the proposed property tax hike.

If the school needs a bigger, more elaborate stage show or band production, let the students figure out a fundraising strategy. In the process they might learn a lesson about the value of a dollar earned.