Some New Albany taxpayers apparently think enough is enough. Last week, roughly 55 percent of voters shot down a bi-annual tax levy that supports local schools. However, it's a levy that's routinely passed in recent years and quite a few parents are now caught off-guard.
"One of the very first things that's had to happen is going to full-cost pay to participate,” explains Dr. April Domine, New Albany Schools Superintendent
That's the fallout from an Election Day tax levy overturn in New Albany, cutting $7.5 million of school funding. Among other consequences, the costs of high school sports, per child, per sport, are spiking more than 1000 percent.
"The fact that we're going from $50 (to) 11 times higher, to $625; that hurts,” says Marsha Nash, a parent of high school athletes.
Basketball season starts in just a few weeks for two of Nash's kids. She says the price jump is bad enough, but she and others like her, didn't even know it was a possibility until late in the game.
It also could deprive students of esteem and lessons of teamwork they might not get in the classroom. "It is a life skill,” says Nash. “I was always taught that growing up, playing sports, (coaches) teaching you for life."
It's not just sports. Art and science programs are now pay-as-you-go as well, all programs educators characterize as vital.
Athletes have to pay up-front and in-full before the winter seasons start, meaning hoopsters, cheerleaders, swimmers, and wrestlers are up against tight deadlines.
The superintendent says those concerned are scrambling to establish sports scholarship programs quickly, but at best that can only put a dent in what amounts to a very sudden-death-style deficit.