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WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — Activity fees put in place this year for Westborough High School and Gibbons Middle School were defended Wednesday in an email sent to parents.
The email, available online, detailed the reasons for the increase and several other cost-cutting measures taken by the committee. Federal funding was cut $675,000 this year.
The increased fee, $200 per activity with a family cap of $500, was put into place after studying the rates of area towns.
The School Committee said the goal is to bring Westborough's fees more in line with those in surrounding communities, which would help offset the cuts in funding, said school committee chair Ilyse Levine-Kanji.
The school committee statement highlighted Shrewsbury, which has a $290 fee per sport and an $870 family cap.
"This is not just an easy way out," Levine-Kanji said at Monday's School Committee meeting.
"I think the numbers speak for themselves," said committee member Nicole Sullivan, who said that most of the outcry against the fees was due to misinformation.
"Under Superintendent Marianne O’Connor’s leadership, everyone in the Westborough schools is continually searching for ways to conserve resources while having the least impact on the quality of our educational product," said the statement, also noting that Westborough has remained one of the highest achieving school districts in the state.
Assistance will be available for those families that qualify. Confidential requests for which can be made to district billing coordinator Jessica DiPietro by email, or phone at 508-836-7720 ext. 5201.
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