May 19—WORTHINGTON — St. Mary's School and Worthington Christian School students participating in District 518 activities will pay the same fees as District 518 kids, but their schools will not be charged an additional operational cost, the District 518 Board of Education decided Tuesday.
Students attending Round Lake-Brewster participating in District 518 activities will pay participation fees, but in addition, RL-B will need to pay an operational fee, which varies depending on the activity. Some schools choose to charge those expenses back to students' families.
For the past decade or so, St. Mary's and WCS students have been allowed to participate in extracurricular activities at Worthington Middle School, said Superintendent John Landgaard. St. Mary's recently began offering school for seventh-graders and may also offer eighth grade in the future.
About 95% of WCS and St. Mary's students attend Worthington High School after graduating from the private schools, Landgaard said, pointing out that being involved in WMS sports allows them to mingle with future classmates.
School board member Matt Widboom, who currently has children in both WCS and WHS, noted that allowing private school students to participate can also help boosts participation in WMS activities.
Steve Schnieder, also a school board member, pointed out that establishing a positive relationship with the private school students would make them more likely to continue their education at WHS, too.
"My only complaint that I've heard about this is the kids that come from (Worthington Christian) get to double up in playing time, which is a huge advantage over the public school kids," said Adam Blume, school board member, adding that this might be something to explore again at a later time.
The vote on private school collaboration was unanimous, but Blume voted against the agreement with the RL-B school, likening it to collaborations with Adrian and other public schools in the region.
"I don't think we get the percentage of the private schools that come into our high school setting," he said. "And you know, my job here is to worry about the kids of District 518 and support 'em — and I just have a hard time taking playing time and practice time away from the kids."
Blume added he still had some hard feelings about how other districts seemed happy to take students from District 518 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and noted RL-B is also looking at an expansion.
"I know there were a lot of Facebook keyboard experts calling me ignorant last month, but I don't know, I'm supporting our kids," he said. "And this one I'm not going to approve."