AVON LAKE, Ohio — Student-athletes in Avon Lake will have a season next school year. The decision to keep five high school teams comes as Avon Lake City Schools face likely cuts after a failed levy and bond issue.
“For our family, it was a big deal,” said Tara Nilson, the mother of twin junior boys who play both golf and hockey for Avon Lake High School.
Both sports, along with gymnastics, swimming and bowling, faced possible elimination after voters rejected an operating levy on November 5. All of those teams practice and compete in off-site facilities, and many require rental and transportation fees.
Cutting the programs was one of many proposals to trim the district’s expenses.
RELATED: Avon Lake student-athletes plead to preserve their teams
“We all banded together. It wasn’t just the hockey parents, it was the golf parents, the swim and dive, the gymnastics, bowling,” Nilson said.
Some parents met with district leaders, proposing ways to save the district money and preserve their children’s teams.
“They not only were willing to listen to us, but they wanted to help find solutions,” said Beth Wallace, the mother of senior and freshman hockey players at Avon Lake High School.
The district agreed to keep all sports teams for the 2025-2026 school year while trimming other expenses and raising pay-to-participate fees for all athletics. Starting next school year, junior high student-athletes will pay $200 per student per sport. High school prices will vary for each team, ranging from $300-700 per student per sport.
“If we have students where this is really just a financial burden for the family, we don’t want them not to participate so we’re looking at outside organizations to provide support in that area as well,” said Avon Lake Superintendent Joelle Magyar.
In addition to athletics, the district has been looking at other ways to cut costs.
This month, it finalized plans to cap all-day kindergarten enrollment at 120 slots. All-day kindergarten families will be responsible for covering the $6,280 tuition for the next school year.
Erieview Elementary, the school with the district’s lowest enrollment, is slated to close at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. Students there will be split between Eastview and Redwood based on their geography.
ALCS is also offering retirement incentives for the second consecutive year, hoping to avoid the need for staff layoffs.
District leaders say finding ways to trim $2 million annually has been a difficult process.
“We know we have to cut and it’s going to affect the kids. But what will affect them the least?” said Magyar.
Some families worry the preservation of sports and other programs will be temporary. One father of an Avon Lake swimmer reached out to News 5 Tuesday. The boys' swim and dive program has won four consecutive conference championships, and he said the team has helped build positive habits and experiences for his children.
“I feel all these athletes may suffer some decrease in personal development, confidence and sense of responsibility as maturing young adults,” he said in a message to News 5.
Others agree sports and other programs can help define some students’ high school experience.
“Sometimes that sport is their connection to friends, sometimes it’s the motivating factor to get their academics done,” said Wallace. “They need that outlet. That’s their passion, that’s their fun, that’s their connection.”
The district will be weighing more cuts in the coming months. It plans to finalize its decisions by March.
