Student-athletes could pay over $1,000 to play certain sports in Winchester under new proposal

Student-athletes may now have to pay more to play their sports under a proposal put forward by the Winchester School Committee last week. 

The proposal would increase fees for all athletes from $400 to $600. It would be an additional $845 for hockey players, $385 for golfers, and $185 for swimmers. The goal of the proposal is to combat a roughly $250,000 budget deficit in the athletics program.

That means families would have to pay more than $1,400 to get just one of their kids out on the ice. It's something that parents are not happy about.

"Obviously, we don't want to have that price increase," said Jared Jackson, a Winchester father of two hockey players. "There's a part of me that thinks it's kind of a necessary evil. If you don't pass an override, you're going to have to pay these fees."

The Jacksons worry that it may deter people from specific sports. 

"They might say, 'Well, we're going to pick soccer. We're going to pick something that's less expensive. '" 

The fees are the latest painful proposal in this year's budget after Winchester residents voted down an $11.5 million tax override. Winchester is one of 57 municipalities that had at least one question on the ballot aimed at overriding the state's 2.5% cap on property taxes.

"I think none of us really believed that it would fail. I think we had some nervousness because gas prices had just spiked before the override happened," School Committee Chairman Timothy Matthews said. 

Matthews said that the increased athletic fees is just another painful addition to the budget this year. The Winchester School District has already announced that the equivalent of 30 full-time teachers will be cut. Town officials are now pinning their hopes on another override vote.

"The reality is that after this year, things will get much worse," Matthews said.