Another Reason to Hate Southlake

Here’s why we should still hate them, they don’t have an Ace-ish fee. For now. But it’s hard to hate the speedy and super frank response from the Carroll ISD communications peeps.

CISD used to have a student activity fee that was charged only to students involved in our athletic program. Yes, it was mandatory at that time. The Board did away with that fee a couple of years ago. At that time, the fee was $100 for students in grades 9-12 and $50 for students in grades 7-8. The money went into the general operating fund and was collected of every student in athletics regardless of participation or playing time. Each student paid only one fee – not a fee per sport.

The district’s Budget & Finance Committee recommended doing away with the fee a couple of years ago when the district’s budget was more stable. Since that time, we have begun to endure cuts again and are operating on a deficit budget. The School Board has discussed resurrecting the activity fee, but have not done so at this point. There has been much discussion about broadening the scope of the fee to include other student organizations and groups and not just athletes – to be fair. No decisions have been made to reinstate the fee.

UPDATE: Add Plano to the list.

By Merritt Patterson Sep. 22, 2010 | 2:29 pm | 15 Comments | Comments RSS
15 comments to "Another Reason to Hate Southlake"
  1. AMD @ September 22, 2010 at 2:38 pm
    Merritt, can you come up with a way to fund the $400,000 shortfall that the athletic budget would suffer if the ACE fee is discontinued? If you’re going to lead the charge against it, be proactive and help solve the problem. How about offering some ideas?

  2. kmom @ September 22, 2010 at 3:01 pm
    How about making the athletic programs cut their expenses? Like other programs do? Fund raise, then live within those means. I’ve never had a football player ask me to by ANYTHING, I’ve had football mom’s sell me tickets to their dinner but that’s it. Fund raise, like the rest of us do. Then live off your earnings.

  3. B @ September 22, 2010 at 3:34 pm
    I would guess that football could probably come somewhat close to funding itself through ticket sales, fundraisers, etc. So, I don’t think the problem is football – it’s generally the cash cow in any athletic program. Other sports (track, gymnastics, etc) that incur expenses but really don’t have a revenue source to cover them would be the ones to suffer.

    KMOM – do you really want each program to ‘live off it’s earnings’? We’d lose a lot of good programs, but probably not football.

  4. AMD @ September 22, 2010 at 3:35 pm
    I hear you, kmom, but what’s the difference in the fund raising effort (where the parents will still feel compelled to buy something) and charging a flat fee? I would rather pay the fee than be nickeled and dimed to death every time I turn around.

    Seems as though you’re keyed in on the football team here. The HS kids do have a fund raiser car wash at the beginning of the year. Guess who buys the tickets? The parents! Also, there is a parents party and auction at the beginning of each year. Maybe you’re not asked to buy anything for football because the parents and the booster club are footing a big chunk of the bill.

    I’m all for cutting expenses. If the athletic department budget is $1.8 mil for the entire district, that doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. The fund raising efforts are now starting to compete with each other, and I am sick of being asked. Sign me up for the $250 set ACE fee, thank you.

  5. D @ September 22, 2010 at 4:04 pm
    Maybe I’m missing something. Do people around here hate Southlake? I would characterize it as indifference.

  6. jp @ September 22, 2010 at 4:23 pm
    AMD,
    The athletic program would not suffer a $400,000 shortfall. The money goes into the GENERAL FUND. Also, if
    Southlake and Plano can get by without this fee, I think we probably can too. Their programs seem to be doing just fine. And, when Southlake did charge a fee, it was WAY less than ours.

  7. September 17 @ September 22, 2010 at 5:29 pm
    I would rather pay the $250 fee. It’s not much, less than what most of us pay for a pair of shoes.

  8. AMD @ September 22, 2010 at 6:47 pm
    JP,
    Read the budget. The expenses equal revenue sources which include the ACE fees so the money would have to come from another source. The monies are deposited into the general fund but specifically accounted for as part of the athletic budget. By the way, what’s Southlake’s recapture contribution compared to ours?

  9. Been There @ September 22, 2010 at 7:45 pm
    Got an idea. You don’t want to pay the ACE fee then don’t play. That way you can pay $2000 per sport (not including private lessons) for the privilege. How is what HP doing any different than what Southlake did “before they got their budget in shape?” AMD’s points are spot on. The District explained were the money went and what it was used for. If no ACE fee then I guess we can cut science and english teachers. Or what about band? Maybe the Bells?Seems to me that if you’re not going to offer suggestions (and the only ones complaining are those that don’t know the facts but simply want to stir things up). All of the sports teams spend incredible time raising money to make ends meet. You haven’t been asked? Post your contact information or email and I guarantee that you will have amble opportunity to do so. Until then I suggest you go back to complaining about Coffee shops, the school drop off lines, “tacky” front yards and who is parking where. I must admit that I’ve had it with the silly gossip and the general I’m better than you attitude by the vast majority that post here. It was a cute place to visit on occassion and luke around but not anymore. SO LONG!

  10. Gringo @ September 22, 2010 at 9:20 pm
    Been There: you’re a badass

  11. TB @ September 22, 2010 at 11:23 pm
    Southlake? What’s that? I believe I’ve heard of Plano. I think it has a lot of toll roads.

  12. tmw @ September 22, 2010 at 11:40 pm
    The comment posted by September 17 pretty much says it all. HPISD can get away with charging outrageous fees because most people around here just pay them, no questions asked. $250 for a pair of shoes? I’ve never paid that in my life. Get a dose of reality.

  13. Rock @ September 23, 2010 at 11:18 am
    Right on Been There!
    P.S. to Kmom-It’s “buy” not “by”, and “moms” not “mom’s”.
    Why the ACE outrage? No play, no pay. Personally, I’m more tired of the multiple fundraisers for everything else. The State legislature has scr***d our District with Robin Hood. That would be the best place to direct outrage.

  14. AD @ September 24, 2010 at 6:30 am
    Been There,

    I agree with the last 3 sentences of your post. It’s the constant whining about nonsense on this blog that has me joining you in leaving. It reinforces the notion that the park cities is inhabited by a large number of people who live in a “world of silly”. I know this doesn’t apply to the majority but the number seems significant.

  15. ACE Fees Stir Up Highland Park Residents | FrontBurner @ October 6, 2010 at 3:35 pm
    [...] description of what the fees are used for. She finally found this. She also discovered that neither Southlake nor Plano have ACE fees. A FrontBurnervian just e-mailed me asking the following question. I wonder [...]

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