Stonington — The Board of Education agreed Thursday to not implement a student activity fee, more commonly known as a pay-to-play system, in the proposed 2015-16 school budget.

Instead, board members agreed to set up a committee to look at the issue and come up with options for the school board to consider this coming fall. If a fee was implemented for students participating in sports and other extracurricular activities it would not take effect until the 2016-17 school year.

Board members said Thursday that implementing such a fee would be a big philosophical change for the system and establishing the committee would give the system time to examine the issue.

Establishing the pay-to-play system was among the recommendations that Superintendent of Schools Van Riley had made to help cut $50,000 of the $788,635 that the Board of Finance has eliminated from the proposed school budget. He said implementing a fee of $100 to $120 per student per year would save about $50,000.

On Thursday, Riley presented a revised plan that would have charged $50 per student per activity with an individual cap of $100 and a family cap of $200. Students who receive free or reduced lunch would not have had to pay the fee. That plan would have saved $35,000. Cuts in new uniforms, health supplies and assistant coaches for golf and boys and girls tennis would have saved another $15,000.

Riley will now come back to the board with a plan for cutting the remaining $50,000 now that pay-to-play is off the table.

The Board of Finance is slated to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at the high school.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas