February 01, 2006

Fees to participate in sports increased

MARICOPA - The Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board last week increased the size of a new school and set a $50 fee for each extracurricular activity that students are involved in.

Architect Don Brubaker and David Bradley from D.L. Withers Construction attended the meeting Wednesday and spoke about the design and construction of the new elementary school to be located in the Alterra subdivision, south of the railroad tracks.

The school will be 76,500 square feet, and the board approved changing the student number from 650 to 850 students. The guaranteed maximum price for the project will be $8,928,970, not including some alternative building construction choices, such as decorative fencing in place of chain link, cabinets and acoustic paneling in the multipurpose room.

Financing the project was a concern for the board. While the district will receive most of the funding from the state, there are additional items that most be paid for out of local funds.

"My question would be, what is most crucial to the educational learning of the student, and can we afford it?" board President Jim Chaston asked.

Board member Tim White also voiced concern. "Can we commit to that million dollars for the middle school and can we commit to $712,000 for this one?"

"I just want to say, if we believe in children and housing our children, we have to commit to it," district Business Manager Paul Kasparian responded. "We do not have a choice."

The board approved the Alterra elementary project unanimously. Construction is expected to begin in February, with the first phase (administrative offices, classrooms and library) being completed by mid-August and the second phase (multipurpose room, cafeteria, computer lab and additional classrooms) completed by Oct. 1.

Fees for Arizona Interscholastic Association sports at the high school and middle school sports were reviewed and raised from $10 to $50 per activity for the 2006-07 school year (or a straight $200 at the start of the year so the student can play any sports over the year). The fee for clubs is $1 each. The money goes toward paying for things such as band uniforms, sports equipment or uniforms, science lab materials and travel for sports and competitive events.

"What we're looking at here, is for the most part, students who are not on free or reduced lunch," high school Principal Burnie Hibbard said. "The parents would have an Arizona tax liability and if they spend $200 in the school for addressing different fees, they would get that money back on the tax credit. So, our intent is not to take dollars out of parents' pockets, but just to take it, maybe, out of the state's pocket and be able to utilize that a little bit more."
 
©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2006