For the third consecutive year, Hempfield Area School Board members have suspended pay-to-participate fees and costs associated with student parking.

In a unanimous vote, school directors waived the fees for the 2022-23 school year. Both fees were suspended the past two years because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Pay-to-participate originally cost $100 per participant for the first sport and then $75 for each additional sport. Over the years, it has generated thousands of dollars for the district, bringing in $116,625 during the 2018-19 school year. Board members first suspended the fee during the 2020-21 school year.

Students also will not be required to pay a fee for parking at the school next year, something that will be beneficial when a multimillion-dollar construction project starts at the high school, board President Tony Bompiani said. The project involves tearing the school down to its structural systems and rebuilding everything as new.

It also will allow for less crowding on school buses and permit students to get to extracurricular activities, jobs and other after-school activities.

“For them to have the flexibility of being able to drive … it only makes sense,” Bompiani said.

According to Superintendent Tammy Wolicki, that fee originally was $35.

Computer fees

In addition to eliminating some costs, school board members voted to continue with insurance fees for district-issued laptops.

The annual, nonrefundable policy costs $25 for a single student, $40 for two students and $60 for three or more students. The fee covers unintentional and non-negligent damage.

Board members first discussed the insurance fees in February when officials gave an update on the number of laptop repairs so far this year compared with last school year, when students largely took classes online. At the time, officials said the district had paid nearly $24,000 to repair 200 Chromebooks.

That’s a drastic difference from the 2020-21 school year, when about $107,800 was paid to fix more than 4,000 computers.

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