The regional school district's athletic program cannot continue to be funded exclusively through fees paid by the athletes and independent fundraising, Athletic Director Bill Leaver told the School Committee last night.

Without money coming from taxpayers to support the program, athletic fees jumped from $150 last year to as high as the $615 for one sport. Most fees average $400. The fees do not cover transportation costs for all the teams, Leaver said, forcing some athletes to drive to games.

"It is frightening to us that kids are driving their own team members," said Nipmuc Regional High School Principal Joan Scribner. "It's a real concern and we've been very fortunate so far," that there haven't been any accidents.

The overall cost of the athletic program is about $300,000.

Leaver asked the school district to fund half that amount in fiscal 2012 to reduce athletic fees to a flat $300. The district would then pay for transportation.  This year's participation levels are similar to those in previous years, said Leaver, who is concerned about the parents who don't want to pay again next year.

"I hope you feel my passion for what these people have put up with," Leaver said. "They've done it this year. My question is whether they will do it again."

School Committee Chairman Don Morin said he understands the situation. He said the district does not want to put athletes in danger by leaving them responsible for transportation. He added, however, that there is no funding approved for athletics for next year in the current budget proposal.

"But sympathy doesn't pay the bill," he said. "I need a direction. If we're going to keep it as is, I think we may have a lot of parents that may say I'll go somewhere else. I may have coaches who will not have teams that may want to go somewhere else."

School Committee member Judy Leonelli suggested using athlete-run summer camps to generate revenue for athletics.

"There are a number of other schools that fund their entire athletic budget on their summer camps," she said. "I think we have to go there. I think we need to look at how to find the extra funds."

Scribner said the athletic program is a "community builder" and was supported this year largely through fundraising and booster clubs.

"Somehow, we have to come together around this and find a way because high school sports helps a lot of our students," Scribner said.

The School Committee wants to do something to restore athletics, Morin said, but will have to wait until May for an indication of state funding and what the towns are going to support.

Those cuts assume full-funding from Upton, which has not announced how much of the district's budget request it can support. The Upton Board of Selectmen meets tonight to discuss next year's budget.

Mendon and Upton voters will also be asked to fund a $3 million Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion tax override to pay for repairs to the Miscoe Hill (middle) School in Mendon.