Participation Fee Numbers Hold Steady
June 27, 2012
Although the use of participation fees to help fund interscholastic athletics in Michigan high schools has doubled during the last nine years, the percentage of schools assessing them has held steady over the last two, according to surveys taken by the Michigan High School Athletic Association of its member institutions.
The most recently completed survey indicates that of 514 member schools participating, 260 schools – 50.5 percent – charged participation fees during the 2011-12 school year. In the 2010-11 survey, fees were being used at 50.4 percent of schools participating.
There were 763 senior high schools in the MHSAA membership this school year – the survey generated a response rate of 68 percent. This was the ninth survey of schools since the 2003-04, when members reported that fees were being used in 24 percent of schools.
The most recent survey also showed that fees incurred by students who paid once for an entire year of participation increased slightly from 2010-11 to 2011-12 – although the maximum fee per family decreased slightly.
The most popular method of assessing participation fees continues to be a payment for each sport an athlete goes out for, used by 41.5 percent of schools in 2011-12. That median fee among schools in the survey has increased only $5, to $75, since 2009-10.
A standardized annual fee per student was used by 24.5 percent of schools in the past year. Since Fall 2003, that fee has increased from $75 to $120 – a 60 percent increase – with the fee increasing $20 per athlete from 2010-11 to 2011-12.
Beginning with the 2004-05 survey, schools were asked in the survey if they had a cap on what individual student-athletes and families could be charged. Caps on student fees have been used by the majority of schools, but that number has dropped from 71.3 percent in 2004-05 to 55 percent in 2011-12. However, the number of schools instituting a cap on what a family pays has increased from 41 percent having a limit in 2004-05 to 49 percent in 2011-12.
Other data from the 2011-12 survey shows 64.5 percent of schools with participation fees have some kind of fee reduction or waiver program in place based on existing programs for subsidized lunch and milk (down from 68 percent in 2010-11); that 14 percent of schools using fees report a drop in participation; and that slightly more than one percent of schools report losing students to other school districts because they are charging fees. Five percent of schools not assessing fees in 2011-12 report transfers to their districts because of the absence of fees. Also, seven percent of schools not assessing fees had done so previously.
The survey for 2011-12 and surveys from previous years can be found on the MHSAA Website by clicking on Schools – Administrators – Pay-To-Play Resources.
Week 6 Football Playoff Listing
September 26, 2012
Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the fifth week of the season. Schools on this list are in enrollment order. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates that a team has eight or fewer games scheduled. A carrot (^) beside a school’s name indicates that a team is one win away from playoff qualification.
Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Oct. 26-27. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.
Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each.
Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Oct. 26-27.
To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.
The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.
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11-Player Playoff Listing
1. |
Utica Eisenhower |
2772 |
3-2 |
62.000 |
2. |
Sterling Heights Stevenson |
2766 |
4-1 |
75.800 |
3. |
Clarkston ^ |
2721 |
5-0 |
94.400 |
4. |
Grand Blanc |
2644 |
3-2 |
57.600 |
5. |
Macomb Dakota |
2608 |
4-1 |
80.600 |
6. |
Lake Orion ^ |
2565 |
5-0 |
96.000 |
7. |
Rockford |
2526 |
3-2 |
57.400 |
8. |
Troy |
2502 |
3-2 |
57.400 |
9. |
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley |
2462 |
4-1 |
77.000 |
10. |
Dearborn Fordson |
2442 |
4-1 |
83.400 |
11. |
Holland West Ottawa |
2262 |
4-1 |
71.000 |
12. |
Northville |
2220 |
3-2 |
60.400 |
13. |
Detroit Cass Tech |
2200 |
4-1 |
77.400 |
14. |
Canton |
2166 |
3-2 |
51.200 |
15. |
Monroe ^ |
2154 |
5-0 |
83.200 |
16. |
Detroit Catholic Central |
2060 |
3-2 |
47.800 |
17. |
Plymouth |
2050 |
4-1 |
71.200 |
18. |
Salem |
2039 |
4-1 |
75.600 |
19. |
Livonia Stevenson |
2005 |
4-1 |
77.200 |
20. |
Holt |
1992 |
3-2 |
57.200 |
21. |
Hartland ^ |
1932 |
5-0 |
91.200 |
22. |
Warren Mott ^ |
1879 |
5-0 |
86.400 |
23. |
Livonia Churchill ^ |
1877 |
5-0 |
100.800 |
24. |
Walled Lake Central |
1857 |
3-2 |
52.200 |
25. |
Macomb L'Anse Creuse North |
1853 |
3-2 |
58.400 |
26. |
Saline |
1849 |
4-1 |
72.400 |
27. |
Grandville |
1846 |
3-2 |
53.600 |
28. |
Flint Carman-Ainsworth ^ |
1772 |
5-0 |
88.000 |
29. |
Grand Ledge |
1743 |
4-1 |
70.600 |
30. |
Rochester |
1725 |
4-1 |
72.800 |
31. |
Traverse City West |
1720 |
4-1 |
72.200 |
32. |
White Lake Lakeland |
1700 |
4-1 |
72.400 |
33. |
Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse |
1680 |
3-2 |