Wareham High School could add a wrestling team next year at no cost to the district, but school officials are concerned about adding a sport after having cut teachers.

Everyone agreed: It's a complicated situation.

Athletic Director Marc Loranger has proposed a partnership with Carver High School that would:

1) Establish a joint Wareham-Carver wrestling team, allowing Wareham students to join Carver's existing team, which the Crusaders are currently struggling to fill.

2) Allow Carver students to join Wareham's varsity hockey team, which the Vikings will likely have trouble filling next year, Loranger said.

Wareham, which currently does not offer wrestling, would be able to establish the program at no cost to the school district. Carver would donate $10,000 worth of wrestling mats to the Vikings. Carver would pay for coaches and all busing associated with the wrestling program.

Wareham would keep all of the wrestling "user fees" — the money students pay to participate in the sport — for both Wareham and Carver.

"It's better than cost-neutral," the athletic director told the School Committee on June 6. "It could be as much as $4,000 that we could add to our budget and start a new sport at Wareham ... which is a perfect world."

"Did you wrestle the Carver [athletic director] for this?" School Committee Chair Geoff Swett joked.

Loranger responded: "No! He wants to keep his program!"

Loranger, a wrestler himself who ran a successful wrestling program while athletic director at Plymouth North, estimated that it would cost approximately $25,000 to start a wrestling team in Wareham, due to the costs of mats and uniforms, among other costs. He said it would cost approximately $11,000 per year to maintain that program. None of those costs exist in the Carver partnership.

Wareham would wear Carver wrestling uniforms with a Wareham "emblem," said Loranger.

On the hockey side, Wareham would continue funding its approximately $24,000 per season hockey program, but allow Carver students to join the team. Carver would keep the Carver students' user fees, while Wareham would keep Wareham's.

Carver students would wear Wareham uniforms with a Carver "emblem."

Initially enthusiastic about the deal, members of the School Committee soon grew concerned.

The elephant in the room? The cost of the hockey program.

Hockey is the most expensive sport in the school, due to the costs of equipment and ice time, among other things. Whenever cuts to athletics have been discussed in recent years, the cost for hockey — which is approximately $1,600 per student — has always been a hot topic.

Most sports cost far less. Spring sports averaged $210 per participant, Swett pointed out.

So far, hockey has remained unscathed.

School Committee member Cliff Sylvia worried about the "timing" of adding another sports team — even if it wouldn't cost anything and would bring in some funds.

Faced with less funding than officials say they need to run the district, the School Department is looking for voter-approval of a Proposition 2½ override and four debt exclusions that would raise property taxes above the annual 2½ cap on increases. The override would raise taxes indefinitely, while the debt exclusions would raise taxes for a fixed period of time until the various projects are paid off.

"Perception is reality, and we just laid off 21 teachers. We cut programs," Sylvia explained. "We're pleading poverty and we're going to add a program?"

Loranger quickly responded: "And $4,000."

The Board of Selectmen has agreed to add the override and three of the four debt exclusions to a July 25 ballot. If voters do not approve the override, the School Department will not be able to hire any of its laid-off teachers back for next school year and will need to cut some combination of programs, sports, and extra-curricular activities.

"Perception is a big deal," School Committee member Michael Flaherty said, and asked whether a School Committee vote on the proposed Wareham-Carver partnership could wait until after the district knows the fate of the override and debt exclusions.

Loranger noted that if the partnership were to happen, he has to meet Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) deadlines in order to form the joint teams.

School Committee members were torn.

"This committee member thinks the citizens of this town expect shared sacrifice. ... Any number of sacrifices are possible," Swett explained. "Tough choices have to be made and I think the community expects them to be made, and if we make them, we're more likely to get support for the things that matter even more, which is getting teachers back on the payroll."

With the idea that Wareham could scrap the idea at any time depending on the budget situation, Sylvia suggested the committee approve the request.

But School Committee member Rhonda Veugen said that perhaps Loranger could ask Carver to take on some of Wareham's hockey costs, suggesting that he ask them to cover $12,000 of the $24,000 Wareham pays to run the hockey program and negotiate down from half.

Loranger was skeptical.

"It'll never happen," he said.

Swett agreed with Veugen's notion, while members Sylvia and Flaherty expressed that they weren't comfortable asking Loranger to begin such negotiations.

Ultimately, Loranger agreed to discuss the idea with Carver and return to the School Committee at a later date.