IRWIN, Pa. — The Norwin School Board voted against raising the fees for local youth sports organizations to rent its sporting facilities like the high school football stadium, but parents are worried the topic will come back up for another vote as early as next month.
Melanie Harhai said the original plan for the Norwin School District to increase its fees for youth sports organizations to rent out its facilities would cost far too much money.
“The increase that they’re looking at is around a 757% increase, which would make it unattainable for most youth sports to use the facilities,” Harhai said.
Harhai is on a committee with the Norwin Youth Football League. Her son also plays football on one of the teams.
She said the league pays a little less than $800 for each day it needs to rent out the Norwin football stadium. Under the proposed increase that was voted down, it would have cost more than $5,000.
That cost would be passed on to parents, which then in turn could end up pricing out families from having their kids participate in youth sports.
“My concern is that these youth programs will go away,” Harhai said. “These are programs we’re using to feed the high school team, so ideally these students will continue to play throughout middle school and into high school. If our youth programs aren’t around, where do these kids go to play sports?”
Christine Baverso is a school board member who also has a son involved in youth sports. She shares those same concerns, and that is why she voted against the initial proposal.
“It doesn’t need to be so substantial, and right off the bat,” Baverso said. “It can be gradual over a period of time, in my opinion.”
Superintendent Jeff Taylor sent Channel 11 a statement that reads:
“The intent behind the revision of Policy 707 was to generate enough revenue to offset the operating costs associated with renting District facilities to the public. We believe that fostering a well-rounded education involves making extracurricular activities accessible to all students. We are committed to finding creative solutions that ensure participation is based on interest and enthusiasm, rather than financial means. For this reason, the District is not considering a “pay to play” policy. Following the results of the August 14, 2023 Legislative meeting, where the motion to pass Policy 707 failed, the Policy Committee plans to revisit the proposed recommendations and will publicly present the rationale to support revised cost recommendations. The Policy would not be voted on until after it has been discussed publicly.”
Norwin School Board President Darlene Ciocca issued a statement, adding:
“After careful consideration and listening to the diverse viewpoints expressed by our community members, we believe it is in the best interest of everyone involved to defer a final decision on the matter. At this point, as any changes in facility rental fees would not take place until the 2024-2025 school year, we have decided to postpone any decision on revising Policy 707 until further notice. Until a revised policy has been established and board approved, the current facility rental fees will remain in place for the 2023-2024 school year.”
Harhai said she understands fees have to increase but wants to come to an agreement with the district.
“We’re willing to sit down with them,” Harhai said. “We’d like to sit down with the board and come to a mutual agreement on what is fair and what makes sense moving forward, but with this increase, they’re looking to make a profit from youth sports, and that simply isn’t how this should be.”
Norwin’s next school board meeting is scheduled for September 11.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
