Only 501 of the 2,910 students enrolled in Fairfield's five elementary schools and 535 students from the Intermediate School's 1,406 students paid the $20 participation fee requested by the community group that is organizing the district's pay-to-participate program.

Parent Jennifer Gilbert is glad the group stepped up to run the program.

"I did pay the PACE fee for each of my kids hoping the programs would come back. I wanted them available for my kids and all the kids here,'' said Gilbert, who has three children at West Elementary School.

Earlier this year the PACE group - Promoting Activities for a Complete Education - was given permission to run a pay-to-participate program after the school board cut funding following a March levy defeat.

"We only had about a third of what we had hoped to get from grades 1-6,'' said PACE member Tim Crowe.

At those grade levels, principals got together and decided which programs would continue, said Lynn Kitchen, assistant superintendent.

"We brought the administrators together. The five (elementary) principals decided what they had in common and they tried to fund that,'' Kitchen said.

Altogether, PACE collected $86,295 to pay for clubs and activities for grades 1-12. This was the second payment PACE made to the school board to keep after-school activities going. Last month the group wrote a check for $250,250 to pay for fall sports, cheerleading and marching band. A third payment to pay for winter sports is due Nov. 3.

The money collected so far wasn't enough to pay for 11 fall athletic teams that had low participation, in part because of high participation fees - $630 for high school sports. It also didn't pay for all the clubs offered last year.

Of the 102 clubs, activities or music programs offered last year, only 71 are back this year. Those that did return have fewer advisers.