Keeping Sports and Other Activities Alive When Budget Issues Arise in School Districts

As the 2025-26 school year came to a close, several reports surfaced dealing with budget shortages in school districts that threatened a reduction or elimination of school-based athletics programs.

From Wyoming to New Jersey and Pennsylvania – and other states in between – school leaders are trying to keep high school – and middle school – athletics and other activity programs alive. While there is no sign of a crisis or epidemic, any potential loss of sports or the arts in our nation’s schools is cause for concern.

In Wyoming, school and state association leaders are facing an 8.4 percent reduction in funding for schools across the state. An article in the Casper Star-Tribune reported that the Wyoming High School Activities Association Board of Directors has been discussing potential strategies for handling budget cuts. 

Appropriately, the WHSAA Board “emphasized that activities and athletics play a critical role in student success. These programs foster leadership, teamwork, character development, and a sense of belonging. For many students, participation in activities is a key factor in their engagement with school and their path to graduation.”

In Hamden, Connecticut, all middle school sports and freshman high school basketball are being cut to address a $3.5 million budget deficit. Another article noted that some schools in Pennsylvania, New York and Florida are also facing challenges to keeping athletics programs up and running.

Perhaps the most concerning report appeared in a NJ.com article, which detailed plans by the West Orange Township School District to eliminate all middle school sports programs to partially address a $13.5 million deficit.

While some districts will be able to implement participation fees to keep programs going, the article noted that other districts have been forced to consider eliminating all high school sports programs.

Certainly, school boards have tough decisions to make when facing budget deficits. How can boards of education determine the value of one program over another, or cutting jobs vs. cutting programs?

Over the past 50 years, history would indicate that sports are among the first programs to be reduced or eliminated altogether – despite the fact that, in most cases, sports programs comprise less than three percent of the overall school district budget. In these cases, known as “extracurricular” programs, sports have been viewed as extra and not as essential as academics.

Although sports and other activity programs in our nation’s schools are a privilege and not a right, they are fundamentally as important to the overall success of students as academics. So, it is important – as many of these aforementioned cases have indicated – that school leaders do everything possible to keep the doors of schools open past 3:30 every day.

As budget issues arise, the NFHS encourages schools to offset those losses through corporate support or fund-raising rather than charging students and their families to pay fees.

In the article on Go-To Fundraisers When Facing a Budget Crunch in the May 2026 issue of High School Today, David Hoch interviewed several high school athletic directors about ways they raise additional funds to offset losses from the general operating budget.

However, even in those situations where students are being charged a fee to participate, education-based athletics and activities within the school system remain an incredible bargain. These fees are minimal compared to what some families spend to involve their sons and daughters in out-of-school club programs, where the educational component is missing.

As budget issues occur in school districts from time to time, all potential solutions should be on the table with the exception of eliminating sports altogether. Sports are the key factor in many students attending school in the first place, making it to the finish line and earning a diploma, which could be the difference in landing a job and starting on a successful path in life.

School-based sports and other activity programs are not a diversion, but rather an extension of a good educational program. Students learn valuable life lessons and maintain positive physical and mental health through these programs. As tough decisions are made when budget crunches arise, the importance of these programs to millions of students should be an uppermost consideration.