Image by Robert the Noid via Flickr
By Marc Benjamin and Tracy Correa
The Fresno Bee
California law says children are entitled to a free education. That includes band, football and other activities at the heart of school life.
But many Valley families have discovered that “free” can cost thousands of dollars a year.
To meet the letter of the law while still shifting the cost of extracurricular activities to families, schools — chronically short of funding — pressure students to buy extras or meet fundraising quotas.
And while districts say they offer financial aid, many families complain that schools make little effort to publicize the help. That means students often miss out on the activities — and what can be lifelong benefits that go with them.
“It’s no child left behind — unless your children can’t pay,” said Sam Keeney, a Clovis father and disabled combat veteran. He and his wife, Kelly Evans-Keeney, could barely keep up with the cost of backpacks and school supplies last fall; they had nothing left over for their six children to participate in extracurricular activities.
Examples of what state education officials call “pay-to-play” costs are many around the Valley:
* At El Capitan Middle School in Fresno’s Central Unified School District, parents of cheerleaders received a flier in May 2008 outlining payment amounts — more than $800 — required for uniforms and accessories. The letter came with a warning that if they didn’t pay in full by the deadline, “cheerleader will not be able to participate in events (including competition and games).”
* Clovis High School told marching band and color guard students this year they “may contribute either $275 or fundraise that amount to fund the expenses incurred by being a member of the marching band program.”
* Members of a Madera Unified baseball team can buy a “spirit pack” for $150. The district says the pack is optional, but it includes home and away game hats, belts, full uniforms and a practice shirt.
The high cost of school activities has been challenged in several lawsuits in California, including one against Clovis Unified last year. The suits cite a state Supreme Court ruling in 1984 that said students and their families should not have to pay for activities connected to school.
Even though the Santa Barbara High School District — the defendant in the case — offered a waiver program for needy families, the Supreme Court said a clear link exists between classroom and extra-curricular activities, and that therefore, under the state education code, both must be free.
The lawsuit against Clovis Unified was filed six months ago after a Clovis East band member contested a $2,400 bill. Two other families joined the suit, claiming the district had charged illegal fees.
“If they can’t offer it to all students for free, then they can’t offer it,” said James Miller, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit. Instead of pressuring students individually to pay for participation, schools should ask PTA or booster clubs to raise the money collectively, he said.
Gary Kreep, a San Diego County lawyer, filed a half-dozen “pay-to-play” suits in Southern California in the 1990s and says he won or settled all of them.
He said students from low-income families suffer when they can’t pay activity costs, because involvement in extra-curricular activities plays a major role in college admission.
“Public education is the way to bring people out of poverty, and if people are discriminated against … you continue the cycle of poverty,” he said. “That’s not America, and that’s not what we are supposed to be doing.”
Falling through cracks
Officials at Fresno Unified School District and most other districts say they offer financial assistance to families who can’t afford their share of costs or fall short of fundraising goals. “We never want a student not to be able to participate. We don’t want fees to be a barrier,” district spokeswoman Susan Bedi said.
Fresno Unified and other districts were unable, however, to provide written policies or rules explaining the financial assistance offered to families. At Fresno Unified, Bedi said, this help varies from school to school. Students and parents are told about it at the beginning of each season, she said. “It’s verbal.”
But parents say that districts don’t do a good job advertising assistance programs to families. Janet Nelson, a first-grade teacher in Sanger whose daughter is a senior at Fresno’s Hoover High School, said some of her daughter’s classmates have struggled to cover costs for extracurricular activities. “Schools don’t make it widely known they can help,” she said.
“They don’t tell the parents,” agreed Margarita Vasquez of Clovis, whose family couldn’t afford required physical exams and other program costs. “If they told us, they [kids] would be participating in everything.”
For Vasquez and husband Chuck Mays, who are both unemployed, it’s tough enough to cover basic bills for their blended family of nine.
Vasquez’s daughter, Jeanna Monsibais, dreamed of being a Clovis East cheerleader this year, her senior year. At a student informational meeting last spring, she learned there was a $1,000 price tag. “I was just like, ‘I can’t do this,’ ” Jeanna said. She also was unable to run track this year because of costs.
And when daughters Celeste and Mariah Urias needed physical exams to play on junior high sports teams, and daughter Kiesha Urias needed $300 for elementary school cheerleading, Vasquez had to say no.
The family was grateful to learn recently that a track coach had offered to pay for Jeanna’s physical exam as well as help cover the costs of shoes and to provide transportation from school. Said Mays, “If help is available and we’re struggling, we’ll take it — especially if it’s of benefit to our children.”
Students say they often don’t even bother to ask about activities they know will be costly. For example, Christopher Evans, now a senior at Buchanan High School in Clovis, said he wanted to play football two years ago. But when he was told it would cost $350, he decided not to — and didn’t tell officials at school why.
His younger brother, A.J. Eastridge, now a sophomore at Buchanan, made the same decision when he learned the cost of being on the basketball team. He even dropped an elective class in food preparation after learning he would have to pay $40 for materials.
Officials said they can’t help if they don’t know about a family’s need. It’s not uncommon, they said, for coaches or principals to reach into their own pockets to help students.
Not-so-optional costs
Districts say they don’t charge fees for students to participate in programs. But the costs rise as extras, such as “optional” clothing, travel or equipment, are added. In the cases of cheerleading and band, the costs can easily exceed $1,000.
For example, cheerleaders must wear a certain $10 hair bow as part of their uniform. But a “competition bow” also is required — for another $10.
Then there are pompoms at $15 each, and the megaphone and lipstick, which cost $60.
Students also are offered “optional” spirit packs, which — depending on the activity — can cost $100 or more. A Clovis Unified cheerleading spirit pack is $159. A football spirit pack — including shoes, receiver gloves, shirts and mouth guards — can cost as much as $200, according to First String Sports store, which sells the accessories.
In many cases, these extras are not optional.
This year, Clovis East asked cheerleaders and their parents to sign a contract that established cost estimates for the season at $1,025. The amount included choreography, travel to a national competition — but not the uniform. It also outlined a payment plan, including late fees.
Contract obligations include promising to maintain good grades and good conduct and also to pay uniform, competition, choreography, music and coaching costs.
According to the Clovis East 2009-10 competition handbook, “Parents of competing squad members will be asked to play a larger role in our fundraising efforts. Financial information, commitment and payment timeline is attached.”
Some parents feel so strongly about the activities that they find the money — no matter how much it hurts.
Janet Hall lost her job last year as a bookkeeper. She has a serious blood disorder that requires medical attention, and she is worried that she might lose her home.
But Hall is determined to let her daughter keep cheering for Clovis High — even if it means not taking medications or getting medical check-ups. Last year she paid $1,600 and expects to pay the same this year.
So far, she said the coaching staff has been understanding when she misses payment deadlines — more understanding than they were last year, before the Clovis East parent sued the district.
“I just can’t take that away from her,” Hall said. “It’s a clean sport, a healthy sport.”
Raising funds
State officials and parent advocates say schools should use booster clubs to cover expenses that schools cannot. Many districts, including Clovis, have had such clubs for years.
But it’s unclear how effective the groups are at relieving low-income families of financial burdens that keep their children from participating in after-school activities.
Visalia’s El Diamante High School, for example, has a charitable foundation that helps cover student expenses and allows parents to write off donations. It was modeled, said Greg Flenory, the school’s athletic director, on the program at Clovis High School, where he previously worked.
The Miners Foundation raises money for everything from football to forensics and generates $75,000 to $150,000 a year.
But students still need to come up with money for expenses. Flenory said his daughter had to work to sell items such as cookie dough and chicken dinners to cover her cheerleading expenses. “I didn’t have to pay out of pocket,” he said.
Kathy Hamlin, a former Clovis East Band Boosters president, said families can offset all expenses by volunteering at events or selling fundraising items.
It’s not easy, she said, but it has been done.
About 20% to 30% of Clovis East’s parents work [a portion of] band costs off, she said, and “the rest of them were satisfied to write a check.”
Parental support is essential to maintain high-caliber programs in Clovis Unified, district spokeswoman Kelly Avants said. And that burden will continue to fall on parents — whether it’s through direct support or volunteering their time for fundraisers — as long as state funding remains at its current level, she said.
There’s no pressure for students to raise a predetermined amount, said Tim Leary, a Clovis West volleyball parent and president of Foundation West, the school’s booster foundation.
However, a letter on the Clovis West band’s Web site specifies that participants “must earn a yearly amount of $500 each to cover uniforms, competition fees, traveling fees, instruments, special instruction and music compositions.” Additional trips add to the total. Officials now term the $500 cost a “donation.”
Students are asked to sell advertising for a program or poster and turn the money in at the appointed time. But some students unable to find financial support still “suited up for four years,” Leary said.
Families that need financial assistance can turn to band directors or school principals, officials said. For example, Clovis West’s band program sets aside about $5,000 each year to help students who can’t afford to participate in the program. Madera Unified’s band program also assists needy students. Madera’s high schools and Clovis West probably help about five kids each year, officials said.
Hamlin said that several years ago, when she was president of the Clovis East Band Boosters, needy families that got assistance approved had money funneled to a family account to reduce their costs, and their names were kept confidential.
“That’s the way we wanted it … to keep everybody’s dignity,” she said.
As for parents, they have opportunities to volunteer their time at fundraisers to compensate for a program’s expense, Leary said. There is a value in showing your children that it takes work to be part of a team, he said: “Excellence takes effort.”
Stretched thinner
But all costs — large or small — are a problem for lower-income families, because funding isn’t available the way it was in schools when the economy was stronger, said John Rogers at the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access at UCLA.
“There is a growing trend of parents putting private dollars toward their children’s education, and it exacerbates the problem in California when the public system is providing less,” he said. “Some parents will fill the gaps, and others will not be able to.”
More burden is falling to parents to pay for things because schools simply don’t have the money, said Jennifer Lechtman, president of the Visalia Parent Teacher Association Council, which oversees the district’s 29 PTA groups.
Lechtman has three children — ages 15, 12 and 9 — involved in after-school activities, and she has had to write an occasional check for extras when fundraising fell short or there wasn’t enough time to raise money prior to the event.
Vasquez, the Clovis mother of seven, said she feels guilty about being unable to pay or raise money to help her children participate in activities.
Vasquez and Mays, who once earned a six-figure salary as an advertising representative, say they sometimes seek help from other family members.
They doubt they could have raised much money this year based on the family’s past fundraising efforts for school. They don’t have relatives nearby and their friends — like them — don’t have extra money to spend on fundraisers.
The struggle to pay for school costs, said Mays, crosses all racial and ethnic lines. “It’s socio-economic. The only color that matters is green.”
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