subtitle: Hockey fee increases needed to offset cost of adding freshman soccer program
Anyway you slice it folks, this seems wrong. Does hockey cost more due to the cost of ice time? Absolutely. Should there be a supplemental fee for hockey to help defray ice time cost? absolutely. Is a 275% fee increase in one year acceptable? Absolutely NOT!Regardless, 4 school board members voted to accept the new fees. There were allusions to the potential that the issue may be revisited when the athletic budget is brought to the Finance Committee in a few weeks. Board VP John Welke, however, expressed concern that the board tends to let these things die once set. We agree. In fact, Athletics Director Jim McClowry is so sure the fees will stand that he's already had the website updated to reflect the change. That's moving fast, people...for a district office that plods worse than a tortoise on many more important issues.
Here are our problems with what happened, in no specific order.
No phased in approach. We knew hockey cost a lot. We've know for years. So why hasn't the fee ratcheted up $50/yr each year? Why isn't this increase from $200 to $550 spread over say three years? Why suddenly are we all worked up to do something about "equity" NOW?
Dammit Jim, you're not making sense. First you say that you're under budget constraints because the district office cut your budget (and all department budgets) by 10%. Then you tell us that you're adding freshman boys and girls soccer next year. Well...how can you be adding two new sports programs without new funding and in the face of a 10% budget cut? That makes no sense. Oh...THEN you tell us you want to raise all athletic fees and raise hockey, in particular, 275% (a $350 per student per year increase).
Champion cherry pickers. As usual coming from the district, a little research indicates that the information on other program hockey fees looks to be cherry picked to make your case. Yes...some schools (Madison) charge $800 for hockey. But there are many other schools that charge a flat rate. This district likes to present only the facts that support their position...not all the facts. Whatever happened to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Funky math softens the blow. Is it a 275% increase? Or just a $175% increase. It depends on the math you use, of course! $550 ÷ $200 × 100 = 275%. But...if we just look at the increase itself ($550 - $200 = $350) relative to the current fee ($200), then the "increase" is only $350 ÷ $200 × 100= 175%. These are twicky wabbits, people. The INCREASE is 175%, but the FEE is being raised 175%. This is a classic budget ploy used by the district as well.
It's still apples and oranges. Yes, ice time is expensive. But which other sports include the cost of field maintenance. We've heard the district tout that Ashley Field costs $60,000 per year to maintain. And what sports play on that? Football for 5-6 games a year? Even with a varsity roster of 70 something kids, that's about $900/year. Do we charge football for that? What about the cost of re-conditioning or replacing football helmets? That's not cheap. Yet hockey kids supply their own...right? And their own pads? Does football?
Why is swimming charged the (new) base athletic fee rate of $65? Isn't swimming the only sport to use the pool, with its very expensive maintenance costs? Many schools use a tiered fee structure, but the schools we reviewed....those similar in size to Sun Prairie...had a maximum ratio of hockey: base sport fee of about 3 or 4:1. These schools charge $100-125 as a base fee and then hockey gets charged about $400-$500. In our case, the hockey fee will be 8 1/2 times the fee charged for swimming. Hockey ($550)is being charged 6 1/2 times the fee charged for football, basketball and baseball ($85). Really? Football is only $10 more than golf?
It seems to us that ALL fees should be raised to at least $100 and then set a hockey fee at $250 with a programmed increase of $50/year till it hits $400. Alternatively, we need a complete analysis of costs per sport and assess fees appropriately. Hockey isn't cheap...but neither is football. And that's not what the new price structure reflects.
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