News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sports programs will survive in Sisters schools next year, but parents and students will have to take on a big share of the burden of funding them.
Cross country, wrestling, swimming, skiing, junior varsity soccer, tennis and golf have all had their funding for coaches' salaries and transportation cut. Track lost funding for one assistant coach.
Middle school sports funding was cut, though the district will contribute $15,000 toward helping the Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation pick up the program.
The cuts are part of an effort to cope with a $400,000 shortfall in the school district's budget going into next year. The district is also losing five teaching positions and scaling back custodial staff.
Parents, students, coaches and backers of specific sports will have to raise funds to pay salaries and transport if the unfunded sports are to survive.
High school football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, track, baseball and softball, will all retain their coaching and transportation funding.
According to school officials, the sports selected to lose their funding are those that can most likely survive on fund-raising.
It won't be easy. Cross country costs $5,959 to run; wrestling costs $6,553; swimming, skiing, tennis and golf run between $4,000 and $7,000.
That level of fund-raising in the community worries some board members.
"Sustained fund-raising wears the community down," said board chair Bill Reed.
Pay-to-play fees may go up. The Sisters School Board, in its Monday, June 5 meeting, discussed restructuring participation fees, possibly placing them on a per-sport basis of $50, $60, or $75 per sport.
Last year, athletes paid a $120 flat fee, regardless of how many sports they participated in.
If the board moves to a per-sport fee, students could pay between $150 and $225 to play a full complement of three sports in a school year. The board agreed to consider a cap for families with more than one student athlete.
Superintendent Steve Swisher urged the board to work hard at establishing an adequate scholarship fund for students who cannot come up with the pay-to-play fees.
Swisher also notes that pay-to-play fees, even at the highest level, would fall short of funding coach's salaries for any of the sports.
Bob Shaw, who served on the school budget committee and has two children still in Sisters schools, observed that increased pay-to-play fees may not sit well with parents who are already being forced to pick up the funding slack in their children's sports.
"It seems that the parents (involved in) the unfunded sports are going to fund the sports out of their on pockets to a great extent," he said. "I wonder how they're going to feel about paying a fee on top of that."
While the board did not formally approve the budget, which would preserve some school sports, board members indicated that no further cuts are forthcoming.
That position came in the wake of testimony from administrators and citizens about the importance of sports and other activities in keeping students motivated in school.
"We hook them with sports, with drama..." said high school principal Boyd Keyser.
"From my point of view, a balanced approach is critical," said parent Mary Pyke. "I know what coaches can do for kids. I would absolutely hate to see drama cut, sports cut, anything that keeps kids in school."
District officials believe they have taken that balanced approach, cutting from a broad spectrum of offerings in to maintain a solid program.
However, the district is losing five teaching positions and shuffling staff to keep core subject areas covered. Class sizes will increase and students will have harder time accessing electives.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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