Hooray for the "Pay for Participation" fee UPDATED

Hooray for the "Pay for Participation" fee this year! MTLSD is excited! YAY! 

From: Mt. Lebanon School District Athletics <noreply@mtlsd.net>

Date: Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 9:42 AM

Subject: Winter Sports

To: Mt. Lebanon Parent/Guardian

Dear Parent/Guardian and Student Athlete,

We are excited to announce that we are continuing to offer the convenience of online registration for our athletic programs through partner company, FamilyID (www.familyid.com).

FamilyID is a secure registration platform that provides you with an easy, user-friendly way to register for our programs, and helps us to be more administratively efficient and environmentally responsible.  When you register through FamilyID, you enter your information once for multiple uses, multiple kids and multiple programs.

All district athletic forms will now be entered electronically with the exception of the physical and health history form.  Those forms will still need to be filled out by the parent and signed by a physician.  Please remember that the physical form needs to be signed after May 31, 2014 to be eligible to participate in athletics during the 2014-15 school year.  These forms can be found on the district web site at www.mtlsd.net.  Click on athletics and then forms on the left hand side of the page.  When completed, the forms should be turned in to the nurse’s office at the school your son or daughter attends.

As you are aware, the district has instituted a new Pay for Participation fee this year.  You will also be able to pay this fee through this site as well.

Please be aware that there are sections of the registration form that require both a parent/guardian and student athlete to respond so please plan accordingly when doing the registration.

Many of our families have already used this system.  I hope that your experience was a good one and the feedback we have received in the office has been positive!!  The on-line registration process for Winter Sports will be available on October 7, 2014! You can begin your registration by clicking on this link https://www.familyid.com/mt-lebanon-high-school and following these steps:

1. Click on the link for the season’s registration form.  Scroll to bottom of page and click on Sign up as a Family or Individual.  If you are a returning user, you can just put in your email and password at the top of the page.

2. Sign up for your secure FamilyID account by entering your family name, email address and password.  You will receive an email with a link to confirm your new account.  (If you don’t see the email, check your spam or junk folders)

3. Click on the link in your email confirmation and then fill out the information requested on the registration form.

You can always find the school landing page by clicking “Find Programs” in the top blue banner, searching Mt. Lebanon, and clicking on the school link.

If you need assistance, call FamilyID at 888-800-5583 X1 from 8:00 AM to 9 PM.  Support is available 7 days a week and messages will be returned promptly.

It is our hope that this new system will make it easier on our families to register for our athletic programs.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the athletic office at 412-344-2008.

Sincerely,

John Grogan

Athletic Director

Update October 3, 2014 12:14 PM At a recent Coaches' meeting, Athletic Director John Grogan informed coaches that the High School "Rock Pile" will be artificially turfed and ready to use in 2017. 

Players participating in the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 have filed this lawsuit.

There are some new studies cited in sections 29, 30, 31, and 32. Interesting reading.

It's heeere...

Timmy and company still get their raises every year. Some are lucky enough to get bonuses on top of their raises. We have a capital campaign director who is earning $82,500 and her second day on the job is a holiday. The median expected salary for a typical fundraising coordinator in the US is $60,440.
It is costing students more to park their cars, while administration and staff park for free. Students pay to cross busy Washington and Cochran Roads and walk greater distances through rain and snow. Parents seem to put up with it. Boy, am I glad my kids are done with Mt. Lebanon Schools. It doesn't seem right to me.

Pay to Participate for Athletics and Band Begins this Year 

The Mt. Lebanon School District is implementing a “pay to participate” program for grades 6-12 beginning in the 2013-2014 school year. There will be a “pay to participate” fee for those involved in middle school and high school athletics, marching band and its auxiliary programs, and high school intramurals. To register your child for these activities, please click on the links below. The links can be found under Fine Arts or Athletics at www.mtlsd.org.

Athletics Registration

Fine Arts Registration

The fee structure is:

• High School Athletics – An annual $40 flat fee allowing a student to participate in each and/or every sports season;
• High School Marching Band & Auxiliary Programs - An annual $40 flat fee allowing a student to participate in the marching band/auxiliary program(s);
• Middle School Athletics - An annual $20 flat fee allowing a student to participate in each and/or every sports season; and
• High School Intramurals - A $5/person/event fee to participate in the high school intramural program.

Fee payment can be made through an online system, “FamilyID”, with the link soon to be available on the Athletic Department and/or respective middle/high schools’ websites. Please be advised that students will not be eligible for participation until this requirement is met. If a family is experiencing economic hardship and is unable to pay the fee, this can be indicated in the online system for the administration to review. Also, the fee will be capped at $80/family; this cap, however, will not include participating in the high school intramural program.

As a general principle, fees will not be refunded for students who quit a team, program, or activity; minimally attend practices, events, or games; become ineligible for any reason; or issues related to playing time. Should a student be cut from the program prior to participation, have a severe illness, injury, or unexpected family situation arise during participation that makes further participation unlikely, discussion can occur with the respective building administrator asking for consideration of a refund.

Additionally, the online system, “FamilyID”, will permit each student to complete participation forms which will be available online beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, using an electronic signature feature. Physicals, which require a doctor’s signature, will continue to be submitted in paper form.

Pay to play

On Monday, the school board approved the 2013-14 budget which includes student fees for sports and extracurricular activities.

The fee schedule for sports includes:

$40 for high school sports
$20 for middle school sports
$5 for intramural sports

Band activities will cost students $40.

Student activity fees are expected to generate $50,000 according to Item #17 on the Budget Reductions Concepts for 2013-14

Students will also pay $25 more to park next year when the parking fee increases to $75 a year.

Saving money USC style

While our school board was debating about eliminating towels at the athletic facility at the stadium (#29), Upper St. Clair was exploring increased class sizes.

The USC School District is researching what—if any—classrooms it can increase in size to save money on staffing.
Administrators presented information to the school board Monday night.
"We're not talking about increasing class size because we want to, but because we might need to," said Rebecca Stern, school board president.

In addition, the USC superintendent and finance director were receptive to pay freezes.  I didn't hear what number Steinhauer's and Klein's pay freeze was on "the list." Maybe they were number 39 and 40.  It is a shame that the rest of the list is confidential.

Another hot topic in USC was athletics. Superintendent O'Toole said there has been no decrease in athletic participation since the pay-to-play fees were introduced at the beginning of the school year. The district received $60,000 in fees.

Don't miss this in the USC Patch:
New Baker Elementary Principal
Patrick McClintock-Comeaux will become the new Baker Elementary principal on April 9...

McClintock-Comeaux is currently the principal of Stephen C. Foster Elementary School in the Mt. Lebanon School District.

He is an Upper St. Clair High School graduate and was a teacher and curriculum leader in the Upper St. Clair School District from 1995 to 2001

Read more: USC school board explores increasing class sizes

Pay to play will come at a cost

I am linking the article but will also publish it in its entirety here since The Almanac doesn't archive their letters.

http://www.thealmanac.net/alm/story10/07-06-2011-editorial-2 

Pay to play will come at a cost

Whether one agrees or disagrees with at least two local school districts' approving "pay for play" fees, it is a novel approach in an effort to balance the budgets.

But at what cost?

For some families, yes, even in Upper St. Clair and Peter Township, shelling out an additional $100 or $200 so the student can participate in football and basketball or other activities, will be a struggle.

At least in Upper St. Clair, a district that released figures, of the projected $510,000 athletic budget on the high school level, imposing the fees will generate a mere $75,475. That's slightly less than 15 percent of the total athletic budget. And it's a minuscule portion of the district's more than $59 million total budget. Is it really worth all the paperwork?

In Peters Township, the newly adopted fee schedule is causing concerns because of its vagueness. While athletics was clearly defined, the generalization of activities is somewhat obscure. Word has it employees are working on clarifying which activities will cost $10 and which will not.

This year trying to achieve a balanced budget without compromising education has been brutal. Just ask any school district business manager, school board administrator or school board member about the long hours going line-by-line through the expenses and revenues.

Times are, indeed, tough. With the price of everything going up and up, it's hard for the average taxpayer to find the money to pay more in school taxes. Adding fees for athletics and activities makes it even more difficult for families.

Let's just hope there aren't students who can't play sports or join the band or participate in whatever activity because the extra money just isn't in the family budget.

1 comment

Bloat and Inequity : 7/7/2011
One of the things that has brought school districts to this point of charging athletic fees that no one mentions is the increasing payrolls of the coaching staffs. Once upon a time the football coach and his assistants were regular full-time teachers that happened to have experience in the sport. They were first teachers- then second coaches as which they earned some extra duty pay. Now we have full time coaches making near $100,000 masquerading as teachers. Sometimes with as little as one class assignment during the day. The other point to ponder, what happens to all the ticket and item (snacks, swweat shirts, programs & ads, hats etc.) sales at these athletic events. Especially at football and basketball which generally garner the largest attendences. If that money is being used to maintain athletic facilities and support other school sports have we not made the football and basketball players unwitting volunteers and donors. They'll be paying to play, parents then also PAY TO WATCH and the monetary fruits of the students labors goes to other activities!

Curious