New obligation policy targets after-school activities

Students owe a total of $135,000 from financial obligations incurred over the past three years. Despite restrictions on current students who owe money, half of the obligations may be unrecoverable, according to Business Manager Anne Alban.

As of the beginning of this year, 898 former students who either graduated or dropped out in the past three years still owe $75,000 to Blair in outstanding obligations, said Joseph Bellino, who has examined old financial records.

The obligations may never get paid because students can graduate with an outstanding fee, according to Alban. "If you look at the MCPS policy, little latitude is given to school officials to collect obligations, other than withholding transcripts, extracurriculars and report cards," Alban said. Also, she stated that the lost $75,000 is compensated by the budget.

The $60,000 debt for current students has led the Blair administration to implement a newly revised obligation policy. Students who owe obligations are now required to pay before they are allowed to participate in extracurricular activities.

Since the implementation of the newly revised obligation policy at the start of the school year, Alban has witnessed a decrease in outstanding fees. "This new rule is a catch-all for students with obligations," said Alban.

The new policy also requires athletic and club sponsors to do routine checks on students' financial accounts.

In the past, the obligation policy only prohibited students from receiving their report cards and purchasing dance tickets. "Based on information from other schools, we decided to expand the policy so that it will really get at the student," Alban said.

The administration abolished the old policy of withholding a report card, for fear it would backfire, ninth grade administrator Richard Wilson said. "Many students purposefully get obligations to not receive their report cards at home," Wilson explained. "And we are trying to avoid that."

According to Alban, most students owe money for lost athletic wear, IDs and textbooks.

The administration's goal is to get the money owed by current students in obligations down from $60,000 to $20,000. Alban hopes the new policy will be an improvement over past methods that have not worked since she began in 1998.

Last school year, Alban consulted Principal Phillip Gainous to determine whether the total obligation amount was exceedingly high for a school as large as Blair and Gainous admitted that $60,000 was a point of concern.

Not all Blair sponsors agree that the new obligation policy encourages students to pay off their fees. Kelly Newman, sponsor of the Thespian Club, thinks that the policy is "unreasonable" because it puts too much weight on teachers. "The burden should be on students to pay off their fees." Newman said.

Senior Michael Hayes, a football player, owed $110 at the start of the year, when the policy was implemented. In order to play in games, Hayes had to either pay the fee upfront or create a weekly payment plan. He opted to pay $10 a week until his debt was paid. Hayes said that the new policy has allowed him to pay his obligation faster and more completely.

According to Alban, if a sports player stops paying their payment plan after the sports season, the consequences will be minimal. "We have not really thought that far ahead," Alban admitted. The administration is trying to have greater control over payments while the students are still attending Blair, Alban said.

Coaches are concerned that their athletes may be treated unfairly under the new policy, according to Dale Miller, head of Blair's athletics department. "Coaches were wondering what happens to those students who do not participate in clubs or sports," Miller said. Students still cannot attend any school functions, such as Homecoming, if they have unpaid obligation fees, Alban said.

Last February, the total unpaid fees were up to $80,000. By May, the debt decreased to $62,000. The lowest the debt reached last year was $55,000, still $35,000 over Blair's goal, according to Alban.

Obligations Galore
•Highest obligation: $550
•Lowest obligation: $3
•Number of students who owe the administration money as of Sept 16: 835
•Total amount owed by students as of Sept 16: $57,000