Should one or more sports be eliminated in favor of more instructors for a
seriously overcrowded eighth grade language arts program?
These questions may lead to a sharp divide in the weeks ahead as the Sisters
School Board attempts to develop formal policies on how nonacademic,
co-curricular activities such as sports, drama and music should be funded.
The board expects to meet in a workshop to review the issues on April 4 and
adopt a formal policy at the regular board meeting on April 8.
On March 20 the board received a staff report from the school district's
co-curricular committee, led by Activities Director Lora Nordquist and
Athletics Director Chuck DeKay, that provided a recommendation on what the
goals of a co-curricular program should be, as well as some cost figures and
proposals for adding or deleting programs.
These proposals suggested that eight criteria should be considered, including
availability of funds, student interest, facilities and community support.
The staff report gives responsibility for proposing cuts to the co-curricular
program to the coaches, advisors and athletic/activities directors, and puts
the burden on those who would like to add a program to show how the new sport
would meet the criteria.
The board also received a counter proposal from Rod Morris, who places much
more emphasis on student interest in various programs and the cost per
participant.
In many ways the two proposals agree. Both emphasize the acquisition of
"life-long skills," physical, mental and emotional development and activities
which contribute to interest in what the educators called "other school
programs" and Morris termed "primary school activities."
But Morris' proposal was much more specific about how a given sports program,
such as soccer, could be added or another one deleted. He specified the number
of days a proposal from an "interested party" could be reviewed by the
athletic/activities director before a denial was appealed to the superintendent
and then to the school board.
Morris suggested that the two fundamental criteria on whether a program is
added or cut should be "student interest," as determined by a yearly survey,
and funding, where the cost per participant would be a major consideration.
This would favor a sport such as soccer, traditionally a high interest, low
cost per player sport, and would handicap wrestling, with a high cost per
wrestler and few participants.
A policy decision needs to be made in the near future. Sisters Middle/High
Principal Dennis Dempsey sees programs getting the ax, "if not this fiscal
year, then the next. We will have to cut them outright or find other sources of
funding," Dempsey said.
"I think the cost of a sport per student has to be tied in, but you have to
study it over a period of time. For instance, we went from 17 to 31 in cross
country this year. That cut the cost per student nearly in half," Dempsey
cautioned.
Principal Dempsey also acknowledged that he was refused a $10,000 request in
January that would have added teaching services to reduce crowding in eighth
grade Language Arts and Social Studies classes.
This is about what it cost for high school wrestling in 1995-96, which served
10 wrestlers.
School Board member Connie Morris, who is married to Rod, said that in her
opinion, the proposal from staff "supports the status quo."
She said some questions still need to be answered regarding the actual cost of
the current co-curricular program. She said that in figures given to the board,
there was no money allocated for football uniform replacement.
Board member Morris also is concerned that the cost of substitute teachers for
those teacher/coaches on the road with the team are not attributed to the
co-curricular budget, thereby distorting the actual cost of maintaining a
program.
Athletic Director DeKay and Activities Director Nordquist could not be reached
over spring break to comment, nor could school board chairman Bill Reed.
School board member Charles Warren said he had some of the same concerns about
the report as Morris, and was concerned that the report did not show any
portion of costs for field maintenance and irrigation as part of the
co-curricular program costs.
While Warren agrees with Rod Morris that cost per student participant should be
considered in evaluating which activities receive school funding, Warren said
he believed that dance, drama and the yearbook were "every bit as important as
the high-profile athletic programs."
"I think you need to have a program that involves as many people as possible,"
Warren said.
He believes co-curricular should be effective "for all students in all grades,"
and would not advocate a pay-to-play option for student activities "until I
know that no child is prevented from participating who wants to participate."
Board member Harold Gott said he found "elements in both (proposals) I like,
but neither gives us all the tools we need."
Gott said the question of whether wrestling or soccer is funded may be the
wrong one to ask.
"I think the question is, can we keep the program as it looks right now when we
need a $40,000 teacher? When we have driving academic needs, can we afford
whatever the sport is?" Gott asked.
Principal Dempsey feels the 2 percent of the total school budget that
co-curricular represents is money well invested, and says the research
indicates that participation in co-curricular activities is the best predictor
of an individual's later success in life.
But that leaves unanswered, for now, which co-curricular activities will be
offered in Sisters, and who will decide?
How will scarce dollars be spent by the Sisters Schools? What sports will be
funded, and who will decide?