Pay to play for high school sports floated as an option by one Connecticut school district

High school sports funding could be in jeopardy as Greenwich board is seeking to cut its budget by more than $4 million

Will Greenwich, Connecticut student athletes have to pay to play as a result of pending budget cuts in the district? It has been floated as an option. / Eric Rueb/Providence Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A recent vote by the Greenwich Connecticut Board of Estimate and Taxation to cut more than $4 million from the district's budget has created a quandary for the town's Board of Education, as it seeks way to reduce its annual budget from $202.4 million to $198.4 million.

According to a report by Greenwich Time, a pair of meetings on the matter have produced few concrete decisions on what to cut, but changes to the district's funding of high school athletics are among the items that have been floated for consideration.

It was reported that Greenwich Board of Education Superintendent Toni Jones has floated the idea of making high school athletics "pay to play" as one way of saving money in the budget.

Pay to play refers to the practice of requiring students to pay a fee to participate in school-sponsored athletic programs. It is a model which has become increasingly common across the United States, especially in districts facing budget cuts or limited funding for extracurricular activities.

The practice has already been widely adobted in other Connecticut districts, including Wilton, Enfield, Simsbury, Wallingford, West Harford, and Canton. The participation fees being charged range from $100 to $200 per sport. Some districts have built in caps per year and per family. In addition, certain sports, such as ice hockey, golf and swimming, especially when they include the use of external facilities, require additional fees which are often excluded from any of the caps.