Fourth in a series
By CHUCK SOUDERS
Sports Writer
chuck_s@newsitem.com
MOUNT CARMEL - Mount Carmel Area School District's recent decision to effectively scuttle two girls sports programs, volleyball and softball, by expanding into the district's cooperative program with Lourdes Regional, began a debate within the school district over things such as favored treatment of the football team, redshirting and other matters.
But the bigger debate, at Mount Carmel and other districts, is the increasing negative role state educational funding cuts are having on sports and other extracurricular activities.
Although Mount Carmel board members made a controversial decision, it was nothing compared to what school directors in the Juniata County School District faced. Their original plan was to do away with sports and other extracurricular programs completely (at a savings of about $400,000) at Juniata and East Juniata high schools. That resulted in legislation passed in the state house which would force the PIAA to basically accept unlimited transfers if a school dropped a sports program, a bill proposed by Sen. Jake Gorman (R-Mifflin), whose constituency includes the Juniata district.
But the Juniata board took a different, and maybe just as controversial, tack, keeping its activities but ordering booster groups to provide all funding, and implementing a $250 pay-to-play fee, per sport, to students. So, if a student competes in three sports, his or her parents or guardians are going to have to come up with $750.
'A world of problems'
Either way, Juniata is looking at "a world of problems," according to Line Mountain Superintendent David Campbell, whose teams competed with Juniata in the past and still compete with East Juniata in most sports.
Had the Juniata board approved total cessation of extracurricular activities, the detrimental effect on the student body and the community in general would have been devastating, according to Campbell and Line Mountain Athletic Director Jeff Lagerman.
"You can't underestimate the importance of sports and other extracurricular activities," Lagerman said. "Some kids show up to school every day because they can play sports. They stay in school because of it. You don't have the behavioral problems you'd have without activities. What would all those kids do when the school day is over?"
But the pay-to-play plan may prove just as problematic, according to Campbell. Aside from the rather hefty fees, there are other problems inherent with the plan that perhaps have been overlooked.
"If you're giving monetary control to booster clubs and parents, what do you think is going to happen?" Campbell asked rhetorically.
"They're going to want to run them," Lagerman answered.
"Who's going to hire and fire coaches?" Campbell asked. "What's going to be the criteria? If you're paying $250 for your child to participate, guess what? You're going to want to see him or her play."
Robert Lombardi, assistant executive director of the PIAA, said once the emotionality of the Juniata issue died down, that board and others statewide have done a good job of looking at their overall budgets and deciding where athletics and extracurricular activities stand.
"I think the AD's and principals are doing a great job," Lombardi said. "They're being judicious and trying to save programs if they can."
Relatively low cost
Campbell is a vociferous supporter of sports and other extracurricular programs, and although Line Mountain is looking for ways to save money, he steadfastly maintains that there are few better bargains in the school district's overall budget of roughly $16 million.
Line Mountain's total athletic budget for 2010-11 was $201,915, according to Campbell. Gate receipts totaled $38,195, for a net cost of $163,720.
"Out of a total budget of about $16 million, that's about 0.97 percent," Campbell said. "If you count other extracurricular activities like band, chorus, musicals, etc., there's another $52,000 budgeted."
"That's about 1.2 percent of the entire budget," Lagerman said.
"We have about 300 students who participate in some kind of extracurricular activity," Campbell said. "That's a lot of bang for the buck."
Campbell said Line Mountain's figures are probably a little lower for a district its size.
"Our coaches salaries are the lowest around," Campbell said.
Lombardi said Line Mountain's budget would be very similar to most in the state.
"The national average (for a school district athletic budget) is between 1 and 3 percent," he said. "When I was in New Mexico in the 1980s (as a graduate student) I did scholarly research on just that issue. There are those who say that athletics is the oldest gifted student program that there is.
"In Pennsylvania, I really doubt that there are many districts that approach 3 percent."
'Short-sighted' approach
Another athletic director and coach who gets upset when he hears board members talk about eliminating sports programs is Southern Columbia's Jim Roth.
"That drives me crazy," Roth said. "There are so many attributes that accompany being on a team, that you just can't emphasize enough. It builds character, it gets kids to learn to work together, it improves the school's whole attitude."
And just being involved in extracurricular activities counts for something down the road, Roth said.
"I know my son Kale went to the University of Pennsylvania. When he was there, they told his class that something like 100 kids with perfect SAT scores had not been accepted that year, because they didn't have much else going for them. They weren't involved with anything else when they were in school," Roth said.
"Schools are looking for well-rounded individuals. When it came time for Kale to look at medical schools, all those schools were looking for the same type of individual. That's because those kids tend to do better, tend to be more loyal to the school and tend to remember the school (financially)."
Joe Klebon, head basketball coach at Shamokin Area, a guidance counselor and former athletic director, thinks boards that target sports programs for budget cuts are being short-sighted.
"First off, the savings would be minimal anyway," Klebon said. "It's such a small part of the overall budget. And think what the programs do: Kids get a chance to play, and even the kids that don't participate benefit. They go to games and cheer. It just makes everybody in school happpier."
(Coming Thursday: College hall of famer says redshirting in high school helped pave his way to success.)