The price of playing public school sports in Tolland is already unaffordable, according to many families and will get even worse.
Families in Tolland now pay $275 per child for each varsity sport they play. The Board of Education's plan increases that amount to $325 next year, but there might be some flexibility on the fee after residents approved a $51 million budget on Tuesday.
Stephanie Howard has two children who are each on three high school teams.
"We are lucky that we're able to do it this year but next year I don't know," Howard said.
Jen Miller has three children in Tolland schools who play three sports each.
"We're gonna do it because we think it's the right thing to do for our children, but we do think it's unfair to other students in town and it's very elitist and not inclusive. It's exclusive," Miller said.
Pay-to-play fees in Tolland are already the highest in the state, according to a February report from the Office of Legislative Research in Hartford. Parents said that's unfair. They also said it's unfair that the district sets no cap for how much families will pay for multiple students or multiple sports.
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"The reality is, we don't have enough money," said Andy Powell, the chairman of the Tolland Board of Education. "If the referendum does not pass this time, we have no flexibility to change that and the reality is it could go a little bit higher depending upon what other priorities we then have to take care of."
Like the sports fees, the town budget is controversial. It includes a tax increase of less than 1 percent.
"I don't want to see us getting taxed any more as a town because we're already taxed to death right now," said Joni Mathiau, who has one child at Tolland High School who does not play sports.
If voters approve the town budget, parents are hoping the school board finds a way to keep the fees lower than currently proposed.
"It's ridiculous. It's a lot of money," said Howard.
