Pay to play

In my experience, focus groups are often held simply to supply evidence supporting whatever the organizers wanted to do in the first place.
So congratulations to the Unionville-Chadds Ford administration for holding a series of such groups that were genuine -- and fascinating -- conversations. The school district, like all others, is facing budget problems and is considering whether instituting user/activity fees is the way to go so that parents and participants shoulder more of the burden.
How important are athletics and other extracurricular activities to the community? Who should pay for them? Is it the role of the school district to provide them? What would a fair fee be? What about families with financial problems?
These are a lot of profound questions, and the administrators did an excellent job explaining some of the practical and legal implications.
The district has provided a wealth of information (http://www.ucfsd.org/userfees.html), including a spreadsheet that shows how much each high-school and middle-school activity costs per participant, as well as how much funding is already provided by parents and booster groups. Some of the numbers astonished me; take a look for yourself.
I predict this topic is going to become a political football, and the district leaders are smart to do their homework.