St. Marys board ends 'pay-to-play'

ST. MARYS - An improving financial situation led St. Marys City Schools officials on Wednesday to drop pay-to-participate fees for next school year.

Board members unanimously voted to stop charging the fees levied on most extracurricular activities. The district began the "pay-to-play" policy during the 2013-14 school year when the district faced a financial crunch, superintendent Shawn Brown said.

"The board felt that the situation was better and that the district could drop having to pay to participate," Brown said this morning.

Some area businesses and organizations had stepped up to help families pay the fees during the two years, he said.

"We appreciate the community working with and cooperating with the pay-to-participate," he said.

The fees did not result in a steep drop-off in participation, he added.

Pay-to-participate generated $65,000 the first year but totals for this school year were not available, he said.

Board members on Wednesday night also voiced support for the Tri Star 2.0 concept, which includes a plan to house all Tri Star Career Compact programs at Wright State University-Lake Campus.

Jared Ebbing of Hometown Opportunity and Tim Buschur of Tri Star Career Compact spoke about updating the program with new technology and creating the central site.

Ebbing said business owners have told him that improving Tri Star would convince students to stay in the area after graduation.

"A community that does not reinvest in itself will lose people. That's bad for the communities, schools, enrollment," he said.

The new model would include more science, technology, engineering and math courses.

Plans are in the early stage and no costs have been forecast, Ebbing said. He will first ask for state government involvement. Area companies and school districts also could be asked to contribute financially, he added.

The board also approved a new, five-year financial forecast by treasurer Tom Sommer. The new forecast anticipates revenue to increase by about $500,000 over the next five years. The forecast projected $20,769,765 in income in 2019, up from $20,271,677 this year.

Expenditures, though, are still expected to exceed revenue. Spending would peak at $22,621,815 in 2019, up from $19,201,862 this year.

The district's cash balance is projected to fall from $3,811,765 this year to $172,558 in 2019.

The outlook, however, is likely to change later this year, Brown said.

"Tom realizes that with the (state) biennial budget still up in the air, that what he has provided will change. The thing he doesn't know is how it is going to change or by how much," Brown said.

The board also approved an agreement with the St. Marys Police Department concerning video cameras. The agreement will provide the police with a live stream of all district surveillance cameras. Officers can monitor district buildings in case of an emergency but cannot record footage, Brown said.

Also on Wednesday, the board,

• modified graduation requirements to remove the words "(i)n addition to earning course credits each student must earn the required number of points unless exempted on the tests required by the state board of education to graduate."

The change is related to the new testing procedures, Brown said.

"Essentially we are saying we are still not in favor of state testing as it currently is," he said.

Board members understand students must still earn the test credits, he said. The district will comply with state requirements but omit the statement.

• approved an extra half hour of work for district secretaries and administrative assistants.

• approved Ohio High School Athletic Association membership for the 2015-16 school year.

• approved the 2015 graduation list of 157 Memorial High School seniors.