Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee members on Wednesday took less than 10 minutes to decide they would not seek additional funding at a district-wide town meeting after Tuesday's failed override.

Over the course of the following two hours, the committee decided to implement a $100 fee for each student participating in school sports and the marching band.

"I think this is the best of all evils," said Committee Chairman David Christianson.

Cuts to athletic programming will include the elimination of the golf team, the co-ed indoor track team, the co-op wrestling program, junior varsity ice hockey as well as the freshman teams for football and girls' and boys' basketball. At the middle school level the cheerleading program is eliminated.

"We wouldn't eliminate any middle school sports that are interscholastic," said Athletic Director David LaRoche.

The committee focused their fee discussion on the marching band and the sports programs, which start before school does.

"Other clubs will be discussed at a future meeting," said Superintendent Michael Zapantis.

Christianson began Wednesday's meeting by stating that the goal was to conduct business.

"We really need to get ready to open schools," he said.

The committee re-certified a budget of $26,656,430, which is $1.2 million less than they'd originally certified in March.

Voters rejected a $1.2 million Proposition 2 1/2 override in June, and a second override request, for $850,000, on Aug. 14.

The committee has decided that the cuts will come from eliminating 32 staff positions (employees received their notification in June), 50 percent of the co-curricular budget, the computer lease program, the curriculum renewal cycle funding and professional development funding.

The school committee interprets the state regional school funding law as allowing the committee to call a district-wide town meeting to determine if they could get support for additional funding. But committee members decided not to go down that path.

"I, for one, say the vote was telling enough," Christianson said.

Parents, teachers and residents who attended the meeting asked a series of questions on how fees would be implemented, why certain sports were eliminated, and how to cover fees for those who can't afford them.

The committee and school officials had few answers on Wednesday night but planned to have deeper discussions at the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 21.