CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Greater Cincinnati parents with student-athletes are having to pay hundreds of dollars in sports fees as many Tri-State school districts find ways to prevent or fill holes in their budgets.
FOX19 NOW surveyed 62 Tri-State districts and found that many with higher-than-average athletic fees have been forced to raise those costs because of a combination of factors cited by school officials: state funding cuts, failing school levies and rising expenses.
Jessica Gonzalez, mother to three kids — two of whom are student-athletes — says Southwest Local School District’s pay-to-participate fees have increased by $200 since the last school year. She says the price increase is due to the district’s failed property tax levy and Ohio’s budget cuts to public schools…