Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

MISSOULA- It'll cost you more to get into high school games and activities next year in Missoula County Public Schools after the board unanimously approved a $1 increase for tickets to high school sporting events and other activities during a Tuesday evening meeting. Choir and band performances are typically free.

School budgets are tight and MCPS was faced with firing its equipment managers at Hellgate, Big Sky and Sentinel high schools. But while that would take care of the budget, it wouldn't take care of the work they do.

So the schools' athletic directors proposed an alternative: to raise admittance prices by a dollar, something they haven't done in over a decade. MCPS Region No. 1 Executive Director Mark Thane said, in doing so, the district could steer clear of cutting student activities and "lifetime sports" like golf and swimming.

"We did not want to reduce any of the athletic or activity options available to students and in order to preserve all the opportunities for students and to retain student engagement, we needed to find the alternative revenue stream," Thane said.

Here are the changes:

Grade School Student: Old price: $3, New price: $4
High School Student without card: Old price: $4, New price: $5
Adults: Old price: $5, New price: $6
Senior Citizens: Old price: Free, New price: Free
All-season family pass: Old price: $110, New price: $150
Student Activity Card: Old price: $20, New price: $25

Thane said the district needs to sell a lot of tickets and points out that the all-season family pass is still a great deal.

"That's really about an $850 value, if you attended all the high school events you would be entitled," he said.

If the schools sell the same amount of tickets as last year, Thane said it would generate a surplus $33,500. That's about one-third of the cost needed to keep the three equipment managers. The rest of the money will come from the general fund.