New fee for provincial-bound sports teams approved by MHCBE

By Samantha Johnson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on October 13, 2022.

reporter@medicinehatnews.com

At the scheduled Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11, a presentation was given by principal Paul Bauche and vice principal Robert Burzminski from Monsignor McCoy High School about a proposed addendum to the school fee schedule, which was passed by the board.

The new fee is related to any sports team who qualifies for provincials and would allow the school to charge a maximum of $500 per student on the team.

Bauche told the board the fee schedule for all extracurricular programming is typically enough to manage a team through its regular season. With everything costing more and adding in tournaments, the money runs out. The reason behind the new fee was the school was looking for a new way to move forward, he said.

“If they qualify, we aren’t always going to charge the full amount if they make it to provincials as they are always in a different location,” stated Bauche.

Provincials are an unknown for all teams, some teams make it regularly and others rarely go. The school wants fairness and equity to be part of the conversation. There would continue to be a 50/50 split between the school and team for the cost of competing in provincials.

Board chair Kathy Glasgo asked about affordability and if it would be a lump-sum payment or if some type of pay structure was in place. Bauche responded by saying they were aware some families would not be able to pay the fee and other cases where they would be able to offer a payment plan.

Trustee David Leahy requested that when the school communicates the new fee to parents and guardians of students, they ensure to add that the school pays half and the team pays half, as that was the key point for him about approving the new fee.

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