JERSEY SHORE — Student athletes in the Jersey Shore Area School District who opt to play more than one sport pay $40 for each season, a cost that Athletic Director William Mincer thinks is too high and wants to see reduced.

“I think it’s a lot of money to pay $120 for a student who plays three sports,” Mincer told the school board at their recent meeting.

“We don’t have a tremendous amount of three sport athletes…but I think to be honest with you, $120 is cost prohibitive to do that for a public high school. So, partly I think it’s cost prohibitive and secondly, we’re higher than anybody else in the district.” Mincer said.

Mincer cited costs for student athletes at other districts in the area, with the largest Williamsport charging $50 for the year. Other districts, such as Wyalusing, he noted, charge $30 which is lowered to $15 if a student qualifies for free or reduced lunches.

Mincer’s suggestion was that next year the fee be lowered to $50 for the year speculating that it might attract more athletes to play multiple sports.

“I can’t quantify this at all, but I would wager we’d probably get more kids to participate if we had a lower fee,” Mincer said.

When asked if Jersey Shore also discounts fees because of free and reduced lunches, Superintendent Dr. Brian Ulmer said, “We have waived fees for those situations.We have in policy we have the authority to waive fees, if it’s a hardship.”

If the fees were lowered to a one-time cost of $50, based on the number of athletes, next year’s budget would be decreased by $4,160, according to Ulmer.

Mincer, who was hired as athletic director last year, said that the budget for his department for 2024-25 reflects a decrease which he feels will cover the loss of revenue from the change in fees.

“I’m hoping to cover that loss with not spending as much money as we did last year, if that makes any sense. And if not, then hopefully getting more kids out will help and then maybe selling more tickets at home games,” said Mincer, adding that those are the only means of generating extra income.

One board member, Mary Thomas, said that she felt a one time fee was not “equitable to all student athletes.”

“Rather than a one-time fee, I’d rather see us lower this per season,” Thomas said.

If there is a one-time fee, it was explained by Ulmer, a student who only plays one sport would be paying more than a student who plays three sports for only the one-time fee.

The board discussed a possibility of having students pay a single amount for each sport that is lower than what they’re paying now which adds up to a set amount.

Ulmer cautioned Mincer, “I will say given the fact that you told us that there’s a lot of single and double sport athletes you are almost going to need to do some math in terms of where you need to be so that you’re not significantly impacting your overall budget revenue.”

It was also noted during the discussion that the athletes’ parents often have to pay for certain equipment, depending on the sport.

The issue was a topic of discussion at the meeting so there was no action taken.