City asks athletes for ‘contribution’

The families of students who compete in athletics for City Section schools this fall will be asked to make a one-time $24 “contribution” that will be used to offset an estimated $650,000 cut in transportation funding.

The plan is explained in a letter the City Section has begun sending to its schools for distribution.

Athletic directors will be in charge of collecting the donations from football players, cheerleaders, band members or anyone who rides a school bus to a sporting event. If the contribution is not collected, it will not affect the student’s participation. Charter schools are not included in the request.

“The district understands that there are some students that may not be able to pay. Consequently, a contribution has been requested, rather than the imposition of a fee,” said Barbara Fiege, the section’s commissioner of athletics.

Fiege said that without contributions administrators would be forced to consider cutting transportation costs by reducing the number of games.

“It’s part of the process so that we can make sure we don’t get sports cut,” said Vinnie Orlando, associate athletic director at Woodland Hills El Camino Real High.

How the letters will be distributed and the money collected will be decided by the individual schools. Some will be attaching the letter to eligibility forms that students must fill out. Others could try to collect the money at preseason parent meetings.

The deadline for funds to be turned in for fall sport athletes is late September, and the district will know how effective schools are in collecting contributions based on eligibility rosters.

Other school districts are already charging transportation fees. Simi Valley parents pay actual costs.

Simi Valley baseball players paid $225 last season. Calabasas parents paid $200.

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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com