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$250 PER KID, PER SPORT: Seattle Public Schools' ‘Pay-to-Play’ Athletics Plan Raids Parents' Pockets to Cover $2.6M Shortfall
SEATTLE — A January 28, 2026 Seattle Public Schools (SPS) memo (full memo included at bottom of post) written by SPS athletics accountability czar Ted Howard, addressed to SPS board members, cites a $2.6 million budget shortfall as the reason why parents must foot the bill for student athletics going forward. Howard’s memo lays out a “pay-to-play” policy proposal that calls for families to pay up to $250 per student, per sport.
A couple notes on the podcast: the hosts reference a $16 million dollar payout to a Garfield athlete. The payout amount is correct, but only $500k of the payout came directly from district coffers, the rest is covered by a state risk management pool. Also, the hosts mention a September registration deadline for winter sports. That is not a rule that applies to transfer students.
