Leaders of South Kitsap Southern Little League voiced concerns over the impact of new field rental fees charged by the school district at the South Kitsap School Board meeting Sept. 17.

Speaking during public comment, Kyle Drevniak, the league’s coaching coordinator and vice president-elect, said this past school year was the first time the district charged local nonprofits for practice facilities.

“This last season became our third-largest expense overall,” Drevniak said. “Field rental fees ended up consuming 60% of our fundraising activities for the year. It had a very large impact.”

Leah French, who will become president of the league Oct. 1, said the costs have hit the smallest of the three South Kitsap leagues the hardest. She said South Kitsap Western Little League spent nearly $8,000 in rental fees, while Southern faced between $4,500 and $5,000 in fees, in addition to a few thousand dollars for portable toilet rentals.

“In our case and a lot of other leagues across the nation, we own our own property, we pay our own property taxes, we have to care for our own fields, our buildings, upkeep, safety, all of that,” French said. “We’ve never had to pay this fee, and now we’re looking at ways to offset it.”

French noted that Little League rules limit youth-related fundraising to one event per year, making it difficult to bring in additional revenue to cover new costs. She added that the league also bears expenses such as portable toilets because some school sites lack restrooms, including at Olalla Elementary, where a unit was recently destroyed by fire.

The speakers urged the district to consider the financial pressures nonprofits face as they continue providing opportunities for children to play organized sports.

Also at the meeting, superintendent Tim Winter gave an enrollment update. He said the district’s September count showed enrollment at 17.09 full-time equivalent students over budget.

“That’s a good thing, we would love to be over budget more,” Winter said. “October usually is our high point, as we remember, so as we see the budget status report, typically what happens during a school year is that it goes down. So we most likely will end up under budget, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed and keep pushing to see how many students we can hold onto this year and do a great job with them,” he said.