There are 74 students at Haverhill High School whose parents have not yet been able to pay the sports fees due to the Athletic Department for their participation in sports. In all, they owe $11,900.
For two of those students, who are entering their senior year, the fees must be paid or they will not be able to participate in graduation with their classmates.
It is an unthinkable punishment for a young person who has gone through four years of high school with that proud day in mind. No parent would intentionally withhold payment knowing that the result is his or her child's embarrassment at being excluded from the ultimate celebration with their friends.
Athletic fees have become one more bill that families are having a hard time paying. Unfortunately, the schools also are caught short and need the sports fees in order to continue to offer an athletics program.
The fees remain the same as last year, topping out at $600 a year for individual students, $850 for a family with more than one child.
Athletic Director Garin Veris cannot be blamed for following the rules that require the high school administration to withhold final report cards for underclassmen and graduation caps and gowns for seniors if sports fees aren't paid.
We commend Veris and the School Committee for trying to find ways to make it easier for parents to make payments, whether by breaking them into installments or considering allowing credit card payments. We believe the high school administration had the right idea in offering refunds to players who are forced to drop out of a sports program within the first couple of weeks of the season.
Veris points out that some students, because of their families' financial situations, will be granted waivers from the fees.
But for families who earn too much to fall into that bracket, but who earn too little to have $600 or more in disposable income for athletic fees, giving their children the opportunity to play sports can be a financial burden.
And for many families, enrolling a child in one or more sport is no more a choice than is sending them to English or math class. For students hoping to be accepted to a good college, sports and other extracurricular activities are essential to creating the well-rounded applicant that schools are looking for.
Proponents of the new single-stream curbside recycling program say that within a year or so, the city could find itself saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on trash disposal.
Perhaps as a way to entice more Haverhill residents to recycle, Mayor James Fiorentini could consider setting aside a portion of the savings each year to offset athletic fees for Haverhill High students. We'd be willing to bet Haverhill residents would take care not to toss a bottle or can, milk jug or newspaper into the trash if it meant their children could take the field without breaking the family budget.
