Haverhill High student athletes owe nearly $12,000 for past seasons of play, high school Athletic Director Garin Veris told the School Committee recently.
For the last several years, Haverhill High students have had to pay to play — limits are $600 a year for an individual student and $850 for a family.
The limits will not change, but there will be a new payment plan for the fees.
Until now, the policy required payment in full by the end of the first week of each sports season.
Beginning this academic year, Veris would like to split the payments in two.
For fall sports, due dates for the first and second payments would be Sept. 15 and Oct. 9. Winter dues would be owed on Dec. 13 and Jan. 17, while spring fees would be owed on April 1 and 22.
For sports with a $275 user fee, the first payment will be $150; for sports costing $175 will require a first payment of $100.
"However we collect, I have to find a way to make it happen," Veris said. "I don't want to go out onto the field and tell a kid they can't play."
The refund policy will also change.
Athletes who drop a sport in the first or second week of a season will owe no fees. However, those dropping the sport in the third week will owe 50 percent of the fee. Students dropping a sport in the fourth week or later would be required to pay the entire fee.
Veris said he will provide lists to coaches of players who have yet to pay their fees and that he'll "become more proactive" in barring nonpaying students from playing.
As part of his presentation to the School Committee, Veris showed the procedures and punishments from other area high schools to show that Haverhill is not alone in its policy of holding report cards or graduation garments from students who are in arrears on their sports fees.
Beverly High School, for instance, has limited student transportation on city buses, barred involvement in other extra curricular events and withheld caps and gowns.
Despite the warnings, Veris was quick to point out that parents and student athletes always have the option of filing for a fee waiver through his office and that those on free or reduced lunches are excluded from the fee.
School Committee President Shaun Toohey proposed setting up an installment plan throughout the season while committee member Paul Magliocchetti suggested setting up a credit card payment system online.
Currently, Haverhill High School accepts only checks or money orders.
"If we can do anything to make that happen then I'd like to make it happen," said Toohey.
According to Veris, unpaid student athlete accounts total $11,900. The breakdown by grade is as follows:
25 are freshmen
23 are sophomores
24 are juniors
2 are seniors.
In other school news
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Mary Malone has proposed establishing a new program, and shot at redemption, for students of the verge of being expelled or considering dropping out.
This new "motivational program," as she described it, would be open to a select group 20 to 30 Haverhill High School students. The program would be hosted at the high school.
"We will hopefully have a program to rejuvenate students and center them back into the high school," said Malone.
Students that weren't performing up to par with the program, however, would be not be readmitted into Haverhill High School.
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Superintendent James Scully said security at Haverhill High School and the district at large would be a key concern for him in the upcoming year.
He said he has talked with police Chief Alan DeNaro and Mayor James Fiorentini to bring patrol cars back to Haverhill High School and to Consentino Middle School.
Scully said he would like to bring School Resource Officer Shawn Scharneck back at the high school for all 180 days of the school year. He's also looking for another officer to patrol the Consentino Middle School for 90 days a year.
Scully said that he'd like a front door guard and guest identification system akin to that used at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School.
Committee member Scott Wood has proposed investigating a private security force as a possible staffing option.
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Kindergarten registration has opened for parents wishing to enroll their children in the city's public program.
All-day kindergarten programs run at Golden Hill Elementary School, Walnut Square Elementary School and the Greenleaf Elementary School from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., Monday to Friday, with extended hours from 3:15 p.m to 5 p.m. available at no additional cost. The program begins on Monday, Sept. 13.
The program costs $4,100 for a full year for Massachusetts residents and $5,675 per year for those our of state.
To begin the first part of registration, contact Sandra McArthur in the Haverhill Public Schools Central Office at City Hall by phone at 978-420-1912.
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The Haverhill YMCA After School Program still has opened registration for its before- and after-school programs for the 2010 to 2011 school year.
Students enrolled in the program will receive healthy snacks, after school activities including crafts and sciences, as well as access to the Haverhill YMCA facility.
The program operates out the Pentucket Lake Elementary School and Hill View Montessori School as well as on-site at the YMCA.
The YMCA will also be offer a Kindergarten Enrichment Program for children enrolled in the morning kindergarten session with the Haverhill Public Schools.
For more information, contact Colette Farina, school age program director at the Haverhill YMCA at 978-374-0506 x1617 or by e-mail at farinac@northshoreymca.org
