SPRD takes on school sports program

The Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) will run middle school sports in Sisters next school year.

On a 4-0 vote the Sisters School Board approved a SPRD proposal to take over the responsibility for Sisters Middle School (SMS) sports for the coming year. (Board member Andrew Gorayeb, who also serves on the SPRD board, was on vacation and did not vote.)

The school district's financial crunch caused the board to severely reduce sports funding for the 2011-2012 school year. The district could only find $14,000 for middle school sports for the 2011-2012 school year.

"We overspent our sports budget by $30,000 last year, we had to cut back this year," said Superintendent Jim Golden. "At the same time we recognize that sports create an active lifestyle and teach values and lifetime skills."

Mark Stewart, principal of Sisters Middle School and co-author of the SPRD proposal said, "We spent $60,000 on middle school sports last year; on $14,000...we would be short on just coaches salaries in the fall, let alone officials and transportation...we would be dead in the water."

Golden pointed out that Bend, Cottage Grove, and Ashland and other Oregon schools have experienced success with having their parks and recreation departments handle middle school athletics.

There will be a liason between the school and SPRD, a component SPRD Business Manager Anne Heath believes "is a key to the success of this project. Having a person at SMS to help coordinate schedules, coaches and equipment was the missing component in a similar previous attempt of this type."

Responding to board member Cheryl Stewart's question, Heath indicated that the same sports will be offered and the same academic standards will be upheld.

"Scholarships will be available according to SPRD's existing policy. Typically SPRD will waive up to one half the registration fee for a family on free and reduced lunch. However, it is the policy of SPRD to never deny a family due to their inability to pay. We will work with families to make participation possible," said Heath.

Board chair Chris Jones clarified the proposal's effect:

"We are really agreeing basically to ceding control over middle school sports... They (SPRD) have the ability to set pay-to-play fees, to hire coaches, etc. We are agreeing to the policies laid out in the (SPRD) proposal."

According to Heath, all sports programs will be cost-neutral to SPRD. Each program is budgeted separately, and their budget must include all direct and indirect costs.

"Fundraising will be done for scholarship dollars only," Heath said.

"This is a process. The proposal (the agreement between the school board and SPRD) should be viewed as a living document that will be changed as we move through the year and learn together what best practices are, and how we meet the needs of the community together. It will take some cooperation and patience from the community as we find our way in doing things differently," Heath told The Nugget.

Sisters Middle School and SPRD will be sending out a combined letter to parents. Families will also receive updates through SPRD email news, and via School Loop.