Neveln Elementary kids stunned by Target Field "cheap seats"

Bright lights. Big city. Less room for outstate kids

So here you are, a good student at Neveln Elementary School in Austin. You sign up for crossing guard duty and student council because you know, just like in years passed, you're going to get a trip up to the big city to catch your heroes, the Minnesota Twins, play ball. A childhood dream come true. A classic moment of Americana.

But this year at Neveln, there's some sticker shock and a barren student council budget.

Back in the Metrodome days, the 69 Neveln kids who made the trip paid $5 for their cheap seats and the school covered the cost of the the bus ride. This year, the tickets cost them $22 each -- a very big deal in a school where where 63 percent of students qualify for free or reduced price lunches.

School principal Dewey Schara says the student council wiped out its $400 balance so the kids could make the trip today to see the Twins play the Tigers.

Adding insult to injury: The Twins quoted the school ticket prices in the $10-$14 range in the pre-season; the $22 price the students ended up paying felt like a bait and switch the Twins tried to assuage with an autographed bat from Jason Kubel.

Turns out the team didn't understand that Neveln was sending to many kids; they couldn't accommodate them all in the cheapest seats.

Schara's he's glad the kids got to make the trip. But he's cheesed off and staying home.

"Our tax-dollars and whatnot are paying for the stadium... Meanwhile, it's too expensive for most of our kids to even go see them play," he told the Austin Daily Herald.