Addressing Funding Issues in High School Activities

By Emily Cerling and Bob Herman

State funding for public schools in South Dakota is insufficient to operate curricular and co-curricular programs in an optimal manner. Funding for academic programs should be the priority during the budgetary process."

The words of Brookings (South Dakota) High School Activities Director Steve Berseth have resonated similarly from the voices of many other athletic directors in their respective states, as funding for activities programs continues to be a profound problem.

The degrees of financial hardship vary nationwide. Some athletic and activities departments in affluent environments endure relatively minor setbacks, but others - many of which are located in the northeastern, northern, northwestern, midwestern and western parts of the United States - have seen major reductions.

Dave Stead, the executive director of the Minnesota State High School League, said more than 100 school districts have held levy referendums to raise money for their educational programs (activities included). For some schools, the levy failed, resulting in a mass cutback in athletic and fine arts programs.

"One coach came in the day after a levy failed to ask that all programs be cut and to tell the community the district couldn't decide how to keep 11 and cut 18 because all of them are important for the kids," Stead said.

One of those school districts, the White Bear Lake (Minnesota) Area Schools, offered a scenario that athletic and extracurricular offerings would be reduced or eliminated, and fees would be further increased if the levy was not renewed by voters.

The Janesville (Wisconsin) School District is another representative example of other school districts, as the athletic department's budget has been cut twice in the past two years and had to institute higher fees and ticket prices.

South Dakota High School Activities Association Executive Director Wayne Carney also noted that high school educational funding is always under scrutiny in South Dakota. However, he thinks many school districts recognize the tangible and intangible positives of extracurricular activities and will do anything to keep the programs afloat.

"I think many administrators and school boards have long ago concluded that activity programs more than pay for themselves in increased attendance, lower dropout rates, lower drug and alcohol use, et cetera, that they have found a way to fund these programs," Carney said.

Because many public schools rely on tax dollars that are allocated to school districts, and those dollars have continually dwindled for most schools, some athletics options have to take the fall.

"I think there is bound to be some reduction, due to the way the economy is," said Bud Legg, Iowa High School Athletic Association information director. "I think the old-age saying, ‘Making do with less,' has pretty well been accepted.

"If a coach's salary becomes a question, booster clubs are the groups that help if needed. The last-ditch move is to cut programs, and the first programs to be cut are lower-level programs. Freshman/sophomore teams have combined, and junior high "A" teams and "B" teams get cut. That really curtails participation, but that has been one way (school districts) have done things."

Ruidoso (New Mexico) High School Activities Director Todd Garelick mentioned that transportation and fuel costs, which are a dilemma for everyone across the country right now, have only added to the diminishing funds.

"The bus that we use costs around $2 each mile," Garelick said. "That is a 50-percent increase from previous years. We have to travel to Albuquerque (180 miles each way), Deming (200 miles each way), et cetera, for some of our road games. In addition, rising fuel costs have made uniforms and equipment more expensive, and transportation/shipping costs are making things difficult to purchase."

As was reported in the February 2004 issue of the NFHS News, Alaska was in one of the most inauspicious situations. Due to the state's sparse population and isolated location, much of the funding for school activities must be paid for through a small portion of the school budget and other media.

"Funding for interscholastic activities in Alaska will always be a problem because of the relatively small number of people spread over a vast state with very few roads," Alaska School Activities Association Executive Director Gary Matthews said. "Three-quarters of our member schools are not connected by road. This means that most travel is done either by air or ferry, and that means it's expensive."

Travel is so expensive in Alaska that an endowment had to be set up to help offset some of the outrageous transportation costs.

"The Alaska Endowment for Youth Activities has been formed to raise money to help support travel costs to state tournaments," Matthews said. "Most schools will not fund this travel. In 2004-05, state tournament travel, not including ground transportation at the site or room and board, exceeded $1.5 million. This was for roster players only, not including coaches or other support personnel."

So how exactly are other school districts and high school activities programs able to get by? Fund-raising, and creative uses of it, has to be the answer.

"We do have internal funding provided by the school district," Garelick said. "I think that the pay-to-play concept is the obvious next step if we are to keep athletics and activities in the schools and not create a situation where we farm them out to clubs."

Types of Fund-raising

Booster clubs, participation fees and fund-raisers are ever-present among high schools today in order to make ends meet.

For many, fund-raising is not always enjoyable. Parents, students and coaches all dread knowing they will have to exert time and resources so they can make a few extra dollars for uniforms, supplies and transportation.

Participation fees, also known as "pay-to-play," are one of the more popular and preferred ways to fund activities programs.

Berseth, who resides in South Dakota where participation fees have been ruled to be unconstitutional in public high schools, would prefer to see those fees implemented rather than removing a program altogether.

"I'm not a proponent of participation fees, but I believe a nominal fee would be preferable to eliminating programs that teach sports-specific, as well as life, skills," Berseth said.

Richard Valdez, the athletic director of Tooele (Utah) High School, also has implemented various methods to raise money to help support his high school's programs. Concessions, a sports calendar with advertising and all the sports schedules, business spots announced over the public-address system throughout football and basketball games and participation fees all assist in covering the costs for high school athletics.

A big moneymaker for the Tooele football team is a Buff card, which is a credit card-sized card that gives the holder discounts at local businesses.

Tucumcari (New Mexico) High School organized one central booster club that supports all athletics grades seven through 12. Because of the community's small size and the support of local businesses, only one organization, assisting all sports, is necessary. Wayne Ferguson, Tucumcari's athletic director, notes that four levels of involvement in the booster club are available. Businesses and families write a check once a year to pay for out-of-town meals and room accommodations for all of the high school's athletic programs.

While student-athletes and booster clubs carry a significant amount of weight while generating funds, the athletic directors also must stretch to make sure all areas across the board are covered.
"As the athletic director, I do the legwork, selling advertising space and publishing the calendar," Valdez said.

There are others, though, who have tried to make the best out of earning money for athletics. As funding has dwindled, schools have been forced to become more creative to generate revenue and revitalize the activity programs.

"We've had senior boys bake and decorate cakes in a football theme, which then are silent-auctioned," said Karen Hand, the athletic director of Lincoln (Nebraska) Public Schools. "We also took pictures of the backs of the boys' legs from the knees down, attached the picture to a jar and let the parents vote on the 'best-looking legs' by placing money in the jar. They incorporated much of their booster business and a scrimmage/meet in a fun type of atmosphere."

For many states, these types of fund-raisers have been beneficial for both the programs and those who volunteer.

"In Colorado, we have no evidence to show that fund-raising has decreased the value of interscholastic participation," Colorado High School Activities Association Commissioner Bill Reader said. "From my experience, the minimal fund-raising done by students can provide opportunities and experiences that students could not do on their own or with their families."

Paradoxical Participation Rates

An interesting dilemma is the inconsistency between the number of participants reported by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) 2006-07 High School Athletics Participation Survey and the shrinking of funds. In fact, according to the survey, participation was at an all-time high with 7.3 million student-athletes.

"I believe that the number of participants continues to increase because of the need and desire to be connected to their local high schools," NFHS President Ron Laird said. "Getting a school letter is still important to our students."

"Kids still want to be involved in activities and parents find ways to pay for their kids to play," Stead said. "That may come to a halt in some schools where dollars are nonexistent and boards have to cut programs."

According to Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Executive Director Michael Savage, Connecticut has also enjoyed increased participation, mainly resulting from new programs being offered.

"I think it's a combination of two factors - creative uses of Title IX when implementing female programs and new programs in sports which were always funded by parents," Savage said. "There are more participants than ever before, our fan base and the public interest has increased each year, and for the first time, we have begun to negotiate contracts for statewide media coverage.

"This is all happening in an atmosphere where our athletes are subjected to higher academic expectations, greater responsibility for personal behavior and where the 'life lessons' about dignity, decency and humility are taught each time a Connecticut high school athlete puts on the uniform representing his or her school."

Education-based Activities versus Club Activities

With many high school activities programs resorting to extra fees, some student-athletes take the jump to club activities, particularly club sports. Each athletics medium offers a different way for a student to play the sport he or she loves.

"Education-based sports and activities programs are unique to the United States and have been highly successful for serving the student body in most schools," Berseth said. "From my perspective, school athletics personnel usually seem to emphasize multi-sport participation, while club sports coaches often stress specialization."

Although out-of-school programs offer the aforementioned specialization of a particular sport, many high school educators believe that may not be the best thing, especially since education-based athletics cater to the needs and desires of all those who attend a school.

"Interscholastic athletics and activities are available to all students, regardless of socioeconomic levels, who earn the privilege of participation," Reader said. "In order to earn the privilege of participation, the students must meet expectations that will enable them to be better and more productive citizens. With club activities, winning is the priority for students who can afford the cost and are in a location that allows participation."

"I think schools are seeing the value of educationally based, school-sponsored activity programs versus other forms of programs," Carney said. "Most parents feel a certain level of comfort in knowing those individuals who work with these students have had some level of instruction in working with students."

Another major difference between the two forms of high school activities involves the intangibles that students get out of the activity, such as sportsmanship, teamwork and similar relationship-based principles.

"The bulk of our interscholastic programs are directed by educators," Legg said. "I don't think there is anything at the club level that can ever replace anything at the education-based level. There are a lot more lessons about life than in the club sports."

Interscholastic activities and out-of-school activities may differ in terms of what is received from the experiences, but interscholastic activities still rely on school district or private finances. In the end, activities programs petition time and time again for more departmental funds, but they are usually last on a high school's allocation list.

"The activity programs provide relevant and authentic learning experiences that aren't duplicated in the classrooms and that offer many teachable moments," Berseth said. "It is important to continue to provide funding for activity programs because participation in interscholastic sports and fine arts activities correlates with adult success."

Emily Cerling was a fall semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. She is a senior at Butler (Indiana) University, majoring in integrated communications. Bob Herman was a fall semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. He is a junior at Butler (Indiana) University, majoring in journalism (news editorial) and minoring in Spanish.

School Boards Face Funding Challenges

By Bill Boyle

School boards across the United States face a challenge of securing the necessary funding to provide high-quality education, including activities.

As the accompanying article outlines, a number of options are available that schools can consider while addressing the funding of school activity programs.

Some schools are able to tie the funding of activities to the larger funding of schools as a whole. Several years ago, after years of failed bond levies, a school district in Colorado finally convinced voters to approve funding for a new school.

The strategy was simple … the local building inspector condemned the school gymnasium, resulting in a full season of away games for the local basketball teams. After getting the attention of the community with the gymnasium condemnation, supporters of the bond levy led a successful effort to find and register recent school alumni as absentee voters.

The result of the effort was the construction of a beautiful new school.

Other schools face a public that may be skeptical of funding school activities.

The Arkansas State Board of Education recently created a series of new regulations governing the reporting of public funds spent on activities. Regulations approved in 2003 resulted in a wide variance in how school expenditures were reported.

The new rules standardize the reporting of expenditures, giving a similar set of criteria to each school district in the state. The rules require the reporting of all expenditures related to athletic programs, including coaching salaries, transportation, insurance, utilities and maintenance.

The new rules stipulate that 20 percent of the reports are audited each year by the legislature.
There have been allegations in Arkansas that some schools have funded athletic programs with money set aside for computer technology.

In addition to facing the challenging of funding programs, school districts face a possibly greater challenge of ensuring that the funds they currently receive are spent in an appropriate manner.

Taxpayers will be hesitant to approve new funding sources if they are skeptical about how public funds are being spent. As a result, it is imperative that school boards carefully manage how public funds are spent.

The San Juan School District, which operates 12 schools in southeast Utah, implemented a change in the oversight of school expenditures. While the school board had carefully (even obsessively) watched district-level expenditures, school-level expenditures had not been managed as carefully.

The board realized that school-level expenditures in the six secondary schools averaged $915 per student per year. This represented nearly 10 percent of general fund expenditures on a per-student basis.

These expenditures do not include district-level spending for activities such as bus transportation and coaching salaries.

Monthly financial reports were received from each school. Individual programs were carefully watched to ensure that there was no deficit spending.

As a result of the increased scrutiny, school officials uncovered several problems related to the collection of gate receipts at athletic events. The investigation culminated in the indictment of a longtime school employee.

Another benefit of the increased scrutiny was a new policy that event officials were paid at the district level instead of the school level. The result was an increase in the quality of event officiating, particularly for minor sports.

The number of programs that were running a deficit budget plummeted to zero with the increased scrutiny. The public perception is that the programs are more carefully managed.

The best way to convince voters and local communities to increase funding is to ensure that existing funds are carefully managed.

The goal, of course, is to build confidence in the administration of the public schools, so the public will respond positively when the inevitable crisis comes, and school boards turn to the public to seek funding.

Bill Boyle is editor and publisher of the San Juan Record in Monticello, Utah. He is a member of the San Juan (Utah) school board, the Utah High School Activities Association Board of Trustees, and the High School Today Publications Committee.