School districts increasingly are looking into new ways to funnel more money into school athletics programs without using taxpayer dollars.

To do that, some school districts are developing corporate sponsorships, partnering with businesses and organizations within the community.

This morning, Hempfield School District plans to announce a new partnership with Lancaster-based Market Street Sports Group at a news conference scheduled for 11 a.m. at the district administrative office, 200 Church St., Landisville.

Market Street Sports Group is the official sponsorship representative of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The group will work with Hempfield to help develop business relationships with companies through corporate sponsorships.

Superintendent David Poore declined Tuesday to comment or discuss details of the agreement until the news conference.

Jason Jesberger, Market Street's vice president of marketing, said Tuesday that he is looking forward to working with Hempfield.

"We've turned down schools because we didn't think they were a good fit," Jesberger said. "But Hempfield is a great fit for us," Jesberger said.

In recent months, Jesberger said, many school districts have contacted him to get information about corporate sponsorship programs.

"Districts have reached out to us. We started out working with the PIAA, but many schools are wondering how to bring these same types of partnerships to the high school level," Jesberger said.

Besides Hempfield, Market Street has a similar agreement with Wilson School District in Reading and two school districts in Maryland, Jesberger said.

Conestoga Valley School District superintendent Gerald Huesken said corporate sponsorships are becoming more prevalent in school districts and will become a trend.

"It's good public relations for districts to look for revenue other than taxpayer dollars," Huesken said. "It has been a goal for us to establish alternative funding sources for our extracurricular programs. We are now looking at what opportunities are out there for us."

Two of the reasons that school districts are exploring different funding options for athletics programs are budgetary constraints brought on by Act 1 and the growth of extracurricular programs, Huesken said.

"There are more activities and more demands on improving activities," Huesken said. "Because of these expectations, there are more demands on parents and (extracurricular) groups."

To offset costs associated with the athletics program, Conestoga Valley school board voted in February to raise student extracurricular participation fees from $25 to $45 for the first activity, plus $10 for each additional activity.

The maximum fee is $55 per student, with $20 supporting a separate district fund for the improvement of athletics facilities.

Manheim Township School Board president Hannah Bartges said Manheim Township has not yet considered a corporate sponsorship program, although it's not being ruled out.

"We haven't done anything like that yet," Bartges said. "But I'm sure we will discuss it at some point. I think right now, public education has got to be creative about raising money."

Email: mpennino@lnpnews.com