Councilman to File Suit Against Harford Schools Over Pay-to-Play

Starting with the 2013–2014 academic year, students in Harford County Public Schools will be charged $50 to play sports and $25 to participate in extracurricular activities.

"The whole thing isn’t fair," Guthrie said at the Sept. 3 County Council meeting.

School officials, who announced the measure in June, said the fees and transportation changes were necessary to compensate for budget shortfalls.

“I intend to go to court on this issue and get it reversed,” said Guthrie, whose district includes Edgewood, Joppatowne and Abingdon. He said he would "love" to have the issue settled out of court but that wasn't happening in the current landscape of "pointing fingers."

Already, Guthrie said he heard from constituents that the new policy was exclusionary.

“The only way you can pay is you can pay by credit card. A lot of people in my district don’t have credit cards...or computers,” Guthrie said, noting the only way people could sign up for programs was online.

"We have three attorneys who are willing to take this [case] pro bono because they are so upset; their children are affected," Guthrie said, adding that he has a meeting scheduled this week with lawyers about the case.

The paperwork will be filed within a week to 10 days, Guthrie said.

In the meantime, he said: "The people that are paying for this are the kids."

Related Articles:

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• Boosters Organize Outcry Against 'Pay to Play'
• Harford Schools Cut Positions, Add Activity Fee