Drill team at Skyline High School can cost a student up to $2,000 a year in fees alone, and cheer tops out at $1,800.

Those are the board-approved maximums in the Granite School District fee schedule for 2026-27. Add required gear, travel and personal equipment, and the real price of playing a sport at the Millcreek school climbs higher still.

About 40% of Skyline's student body participates in sports, first reported by The Skyline Horizon on Oct. 30. The student newspaper found that rising out-of-pocket costs are straining families across the roster.

The sticker shock

The district fee schedule, approved by the Granite Board of Education on March 31, lists maximum per-student fees for each sport. Basketball caps at $900. Football is $900. Baseball and softball each hit $1,000. Dance performing groups max out at $1,000 for costumes, choreography, transportation and other costs.

Then there is gear.

"They have to have the right training shoes. And just good running shoes are well over $100," said Adam Fadenrecht, a track and field coach at Skyline, in the Horizon report. Track spikes run another $40 to $50, he said.

Track's $400 district fee makes it one of the more affordable options. Mountain biking is a different story.

"My mom thought when we first got into biking, she thought a $1,000 bike was ridiculously expensive, but that's actually so cheap," Skyline senior mountain biker Leah Keller told the Horizon. "It's easy to find $10,000+ bikes. The high end is like $15,000 now, which is crazy."

Keller said the cost gap shapes who competes. "[Biking] favors more upper-class people," she said. "If you can only afford a less nice bike, then you're not going to be as fast."

What the district offers

All fees listed on the district schedule are subject to fee waiver, according to Granite School District's registration page. The district states that "no student will be left out of a quality educational experience because the family cannot afford to pay the fees."

Parents must apply within 30 school days of the first day of school. Students who enroll later or face a financial emergency such as job loss or major illness get 30 school days from that event to apply. Income documentation is required.

The district also caps total fees at $3,000 per student per school year, though that cap does not cover student travel or school-sponsored admission fees.

Coaches fill the gaps

Fadenrecht collects leftover shoes and spikes from graduating seniors and from his own sons, then loans them to students who need them, the Horizon reported. Teams also hold fundraisers throughout the season to bring down costs.

Lilian Dmitrieva, a Skyline senior and historian for the school's ballroom team, told the Horizon she expected fees around $30 to $50 when she joined. "But no, the fees were pretty high," she said. She added that transparency from the school helped explain where the money goes: venue rentals, travel, costumes and guest choreographers.

At its Aug. 4 meeting, the Granite Board of Education approved first readings of updated policies on student travel and fees in public schools. The travel policy change would require students who qualify for fee waivers and want to attend a second trip in one school year to follow an action plan with school administration, according to board meeting minutes. Both items passed 6-0 with one member absent.

Families seeking fee waiver information can visit the Granite School District registration page or contact their school directly.