Participating in extracurricular activities in the Buckeye Valley Local School District will be less of a financial burden on parents.

The Buckeye Valley Board of Education voted unanimously last week to lower pay-to-play fees across the board.

Tom Kaelber, the board’s president, said the move was possible because recent forecasts have shown the district in a better position financially than it has been in previous years.

“Financially we seem pretty sound after hearing our five-year forecast,” he said.

The fees for high school students will be lowered from the current $200 per activity to $150.

Middle school pay-to-play fees will decrease from $150 per activity to $100.

The cap for families will fall from $900 per year to $650 per year.

“It’s just time we did that,” Kaelber said. “It was putting quite a burden on our families and we don’t want to discourage kids from getting involved with extracurricular activities.”

Athletic Director Jeremy Froehlich said he expects the change to spur more students to participate in extracurricular activities.

“I’m excited that the board decided to lower this because it will get more kids involved,” he said.

The district collected $147,595 in pay-to-play fees in the most recent fiscal year.