JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch High school may soon be adopting a “pay to play” fee for athletics.

The South Butler School Board has tabled until July 1 the portion of a proposed budget that involves $61,825 in revenue that would likely be generated by instituting a fee for students participating in school-sponsored clubs and athletics.

The proposal is that a student pays $25 to participate in school-sponsored clubs, $50 to participate in athletics. It would be capped at $200 per family and waived for students receiving free or reduced-price lunches.

“Those are just figures that were thrown out there to get something on paper to be considered,” South Butler School Board president Nelda Burd said. “None of this is etched in stone right now.”

Seneca Valley and Mars are the only other Butler County schools currently using a pay to play program.

Mars charges $100 per athlete, per sport.

“It hasn’t been a deterrent to kids playing sports here,” Mars athletic director Scott Heinauer said. “In fact, our overall athletic participation numbers have increased since that policy was instituted.

“Obviously, they haven’t increased because families are paying now. But the system hasn’t hurt us.”

The South Butler School Board tabled the issue to get some feedback from the public on the issue. Board meetings are scheduled June 5 and 12 and opinions will be welcomed.

“I’m still in the process of gathering information, seeing what funding this could generate, how families would be affected, all of that,” school board member Jacqueline Pfeiffer said.

“We have to find money any way possible and we will look at everything possible to do that.”

Knoch athletic director Mike King is against the proposal and said the phrase “pay to play” is misleading.

“It carries the wrong connotation,” he said. “It’s more accurate to say pay to participate, still more accurate to call it a transportation fee. Increased fuel costs have become a problem in high school sports.”

King said West Allegheny charges students a rate to play dependent upon how often that particular team travels and how many are on the team.

“Based on that, the most expensive sport to play there is baseball, at $150 per player,” King said. “The way this early spring was, with so many games called off and road trips canceled, some of the parents of those players are wondering where that money is going.

“There is potential backlash with something like this. To me, sports and other extra-curricular activities are part of the high school experience. I’m uncomfortable with the idea of asking families to pay additional money for their kids to participate in those programs.”

Heinauer said Mars places the monies it receives from its athletes into a general fund to off-set the cost of sports.

“The funds help pay for uniforms, buses to games, coaching salaries, all of that stuff,” he said.

Butler athletic director Bill Mylan put together a proposal for a pay to play program three years ago, but the school board opted to not adopt such a program.

Mylan said “at least 30 WPIAL schools had a (pay to play) program in place back then with another dozen ready to try it.

“Our board just wasn’t ready to charge families that money,” he said.

Burd stressed the importance of fielding the public’s concerns about the South Butler School District implementing such a program.

“We want to hear what people have to say,” she said. “That’s why we tabled this until July. We want to weigh everything.”