Just as the leaves will soon change color, local high school students will soon see some differences in fall sports.

Recent cuts to Skagit County school district budgets have had an effect on many school programs across the board, and extracurricular activities are no exception.

Athletic directors have been working with school administrators and coaches to find ways to reduce costs without eliminating sports programs or teams.

Fewer junior varsity and C team contests, additional transportation fees and less district dollars to spend on coaches have been implemented by districts to keep student participation up while keeping costs down.

“What we’re trying to do is reduce some costs but keep all the programs running — that’s the goal,” Burlington-Edison Athletic Director Jim Clem said. “Our league (the Northwest Conference) has had a lot of discussions as to what to do. It will continue to be revisited throughout the year.”

The biggest change will likely be fewer sports contests for non-varsity teams.

Due to increasing fuel costs and decreasing budgets, representatives for the conference’s 14 teams decided in the spring to eliminate 20 percent of non-conference C team games and 10 percent of junior varsity contests.

Clem said the idea was to help ease each district’s transportation costs, while having the least amount of impact on individual athletes and teams.

For most sports, that will mean losing one or two games per season.

Conference officials have also placed an emphasis on teams staying closer to home for non-conference games, Clem said. As a result, most high school teams will play those contests within the county.

“I don’t think the kids will notice much of a change,” he said.

In addition to fewer contests for some teams, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley high schools will charge a one-time transportation fee for student athletes.

Athletic Director Dave Riddle said the $30 fee at Mount Vernon will help offset increasing fuel prices, which have been a major contributor to budget reductions across all districts.

Financial assistance is available for students that can not afford the fee, Riddle said.

“We’re trying to do everything we can so that the impact is felt evenly and not a heavy burden on those who are not able to afford it,” he said.

Mount Vernon is not alone.

Sedro-Woolley High School will implement a one-time $20 fee for student athletes, and school officials had to cut about $40,000 from their middle and high school sports budget, mostly for transportation purposes.

Sedro-Woolley Athletic Director Todd Torgeson said the number of after school activity buses will be trimmed in half to help cut down on costs.

Last year, four buses ran Monday through Thursday to take students home from events and practices. Two buses will run this year.

The high school also eliminated busing students to practice at Avalon Golf Links and Janicki Fields.

Torgeson said he expects to see slightly smaller participation numbers due to the changes.

“That $20 doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but throw in money for a physical, for cleats and clothing like Under Armor and picking up that kid after practice, and all of a sudden a parent has shelled out a lot of money,” Torgeson said. “We either had to cut programs or cut transportation,” Torgeson said.

In Concrete, administrators are taking a hard look at their sports travel budgets, said Don Beazizo, high school and middle school principal.

The district will likely hold fundraisers to help pay for teams traveling more than 150 miles away, he said, and athletic directors within the Northwest 1A/2B League will be working together to reduce inter-league travel.

“This year we have a volleyball and soccer match at Orcas (Island) on the same night,” Beazizo said. “We’re putting them all on the same bus.”

The principal, who also coached high school fastpitch last year, said that sports contest locations may flip-flop this year to eliminate some busing, but actual games will not change dates.

Districts are also looking at other areas to trim expenses.

In addition to its transportation fee, Mount Vernon High School has also had to reduce paid assistant coaching staff positions to cut costs. The school has had to reduce six stipends for coaches in football, volleyball, fastpitch, baseball and boys’ and girls’ basketball.

Despite fewer funds, many sports squads are making use of volunteer coaches to fill the void.

“We have a lot of volunteers and that will continue,” Riddle said. “Obviously we’re not going to say no to qualified staff.”

Sports spending reductions are not the only challenges facing area school districts.

The Sedro-Woolley, Mount Vernon, Burlington-Edison and Concrete school districts have all approved 2008-2009 budgets with significant cuts from previous years.

District officials have raised school lunch prices in most districts to account for rising food costs, while bolstering projected fuel costs to account for soaring diesel prices.

Officials either cut spending in particular programs or reduced costs across the board.

“We did it as a district, but all departments were asked to look at reduce costs,” Clem said about Burlington-Edison.

Many school officials agree that the cutbacks will affect school athletics in some way, but administrators are hoping that the changes will be negligible.

“You have to pick and chose, but if everybody bears some of the burden, it becomes a little easier,” Riddle said. “It’s much easier than cutting a team.”