Grafton athletes will have to pay to play
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation. 
Breakdown of Grafton’s athletic budget costs (handout). 
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation. 
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation. 
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation. 
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation. 
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation. 
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation. 
An image from Superintendent Jay Cummings’ presentation.
If Grafton High School athletes want to set foot on a field — or a track, a court, an ice rink — they will be paying up to $200 a sport starting this fall.
The School Committee on Tuesday bowed to both public pressure and the looming financial crisis in the Grafton schools and voted to implement athletic fees at the high school. The exact figure for fees is still up in the air as numbers are run for family discounts, possible easing in of fees and other variables.
Chairperson Laura Often acknowledged there has been political pressure put on the committee to pass athletic fees, despite their implementation barely putting a dent in school system needs for Fiscal Year 2021. But there’s a precedent — Grafton is one of the few schools in the region (Millbury is one) to not charge for sports.
Often, the lone member to vote against the fees, despaired that students may be deterred by the fees from trying something new and questioned why the schools are pressured to follow other towns in cuts but not in adding new programming.
“If we keep on running out of money, we’re either going to pay or we’re not going to have it at all,” School Committee member Melissa Mazan said. She also suggested the schools could set up a trust for sports funding, allowing public donations to help offset fees.
Tyler Concaugh, a student member on the School Committee, said he knows several students who put in the effort at school solely because lower grades would prevent them from participating in sports.
“I do think athletics fuels some of the grades at the high school,” he said. “I have no doubt.”
Fee estimates ranged from $100 to $200 per student, per sport. Capping fees at $400 per family was suggested, as was introducing fees on a sliding scale over the next few years.
Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings said 789 Grafton High School students play sports, with the highest costs attributed to hockey (a cost of $1,000 each for the two girls that play in a co-op league or $977.93 each for the 45 boys who play) and the lowest for track and field.
