Error Costs School Much-Needed Repair Funds

A local youth sports program won't have to comply with Winnacunnet High School's new facility usage fee this season due to paperwork and administrative errors associated with collecting the fee.

Hampton Attack Youth Lacrosse will be able to use WHS' practice fields — not the football field — free of charge in 2013, just like the team had in 2012, because team officials weren't informed of the fee's existence until after WHS Athletic Director Carol Dozibrin signed off on the agreement.

Jack McCann, the coordinator of the Attack's boys' team, said the fee would've added $10 to $12 to the $95 registration charge already collected from the families of the 75 male athletes and 20 to 25 female athletes in the Attack program — a registration fee that was already collected before McCann learned of the Winnacunnet facility fee while attempting to get Principal Bill McGowan's signature, the last signature required on the usage application, on March 12 nearly four months after Dozibrin signed off on the deal on Dec. 19.

The Winnacunnet School Board recently voted 3-2 to waive the fee based on this information, which McCann shared during last week's board meeting. Vice Chairman Henry Marsh said the cost is "going to come from the kids at this point" if the board didn't waive the fee because "the fundraising is already done."

Board Chairman Chris Muns and member Wayne Skoglund were opposed to waiving the fee, with the latter stating that the schools fields are "mud" and "not good at all... because of overuse." Skoglund did say the board should consider waiving the fee now for the lacrosse program, although he said he feels the board can't do so again without finding ways to cut back on overuse.

"The usage far exceeds the ability to keep it up," said Skoglund. "We shouldn’t make any other permanent future usages for the field until we get a report of what is happening to the field.

"Even if we have the money to pay, the fields get worse every year just because of usage."

McCann said he would have no problem paying to use the field, and said the program will "include it" in next season's fee structure. He said, though, that he objected to the payment this year because he was "not made aware of it in a timely fashion."