After-school activities will now come with a price in Jackson Township if a student needs to ride the late bus home.

The district will now charge middle and high school students to ride the late bus home from sports and other activities. Grant money will cover two days per week of busing, but the rest will be up to the parents to pay for.

School officials say that this decision is to help close an $18 million budget deficit.

“We know that we have to address the needs of the school district, the township that is growing, all with reduced sources of revenue from the state,” says Dan Baginski, business administrator for the school district.

Some parents say that they will need to find alternative methods for their students who have after-school activities.

“We are going to try and see if we can carpool with other parents and see who else is working through these problems to solve it,” says Michael Manning, a father of seven children.

The cost of this year’s subscription late busing will be $55 per middle school child per season and $95 for each high school student per season. But the fees are not to exceed $285 per family per year.