SEEKONK - Bucking a trend in surrounding communities, Seekonk public school students will not have to pay user fees to play sports or transportation fees to ride buses, Acting School Superintendent Emile Chevrette has announced.

The school committee had approved a flat user fee of $145 per sport at a June meeting in order to make up a $500,000 budget reduction.

However, Chevrette now says the school department does not need that money after all, because several teaching positions at the high school did not have to be filled due to lower than expected enrollment.

"We know there's enough money in the budget to take care of those fees," Chevrette explained.

Parents had already mailed checks to the school department to pay the fees, but Chevrette said those checks have not been cashed and will now be sent back. Five other area towns - Foxboro, Norfolk, North Attleboro, Plainville, and Wrentham - do not charge for sports or busing, according to the most recent survey of Massachusetts public school districts by the Superintendent-Educator's Network.

There will be an informational meeting for parents of Hurley Middle School students at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, in the high school library.

There will be a new schedule for the coming school year, which includes longer class times and rotating classes. The changes will affect students in grades 6, 7, and 8. Principal Jane Daly will be present to answer questions about the schedule.