But Cherry Hill's school board could be taking that practice a step further.
Cherry Hill schools have lost almost $13 million in state aid and, to deal with the crisis, there have been cuts.
"We had to reduce more than 100 employees, 50 of whom were teachers. This year we increased class size, we made reductions across the board in programs," said Asst. Superintendent Jim Gallagher.
On Tuesday night, the school board will consider a plan to charge parents of 7,000 students in grades 6 through 12 a general activities fee. The money would help support extracurricular activities beginning in the fall.
The fee is expected to be $90 per high school student and $55 per middle school student, with a $200 cap per family.
Those eligible for free or reduced lunch would pay nothing.
Gallagher said this is the fastest way to save the activities.
"If we were to go to a dance, we hire teachers as chaperones for that dance. So there are costs involved in virtually everything we do after school hours that, we thought, it would be equitable if everyone contributed to," said Gallagher.
A number of districts are looking at similar ways to deal with state aid cuts.
Some parent said they don't like the idea but most seemed to understand the need.
"The state's in a lot of tax problems right now, so to have the parents come up with a little money to pay for some activities I think is a good thing," said Robert Turston of Cherry Hill.
"My son was in TAG, and TAG's for gifted kids, and that's gone. The counselors are gone, so it is what it is. If the kids want to play sports, pay for it," said Tim Black of Cherry Hill.
The district says the fees will be revisited each year and, if economic conditions improve, they could be reduced or eliminated.
