CALDWELL, Idaho — After requiring student athletes to pay for their involvement in school sports last year, the Caldwell School District (CSD) is now considering removing those fees for next year.
After a failed levy last May, the CSD was forced to make budget cuts for the 2024 and 2025 school year, leading to a policy they hoped to avoid implementing — a pay-to-play fee structure for student athletes wanting to participate in school sports.
"It was $100 per sport, and we do have a lot of athletes that play multiple sports," said Jessica Watts, Public Information Officer for Caldwell School District.
Watts added that the structure also applies to other extracurricular activities, including things like band and cheerleading.
Watts says that although the third sport fee would be removed, the community often came together to sponsor students whose parents struggled to keep their student athletes in numerous sports. Fundraisers also helped close the gap for many families.
"Sports just get a lot of people involved, and they're student athletes," explained Watts. "They're students and athletes second; it keeps them up on their studies and keeps them going in the classroom."
Thanks to the recent passing of an $8.2 million levy in November, district officials are hoping to remove the fee after just one year of implementing it.
"It was never their intention to keep it long term," added Watts.
"That's a lot of money for me playing every sport," said 3-sport student athlete and Caldwell resident, Jonathan Rosales.
Raised in Caldwell, Rosales says sports like soccer kept him from making bad choices as a kid.
"Every time I was in high school, that's what I would look forward to — soccer practice," recalled Rosales.
While his four kids are still young, he hopes that when they are in middle school and high school, they will be able to participate in all school sports and still keep it affordable.
While a decision has not been made yet regarding the pay-to-play structure, Watts says initial conversations have been positive and school officials will be ready to answer questions if and when they remove the policy.
That decision could come as early as June 9th, when the school district plans to hold its next meeting.