Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Pasco County School District superintendent John Long said Monday a minor reduction in athletic schedules should be enacted for the coming season and he doesn't believe athletic fee increases will keep students from playing sports.
Reducing schedules and raising athletic fees were some of the measures the school board approved June 17 to help cover $10.3-million in budget cuts for the coming year.
A committee led by county supervisor of athletics Kit Broadbelt proposed cutting one contest from the schedule of every varsity team sport save football to meet that requirement, from 25 to 24 games.
"If that's what we're recommending," Long said, "that's what we'll put in place."
When will a final decision be made? Long said he doesn't need to formally approve the proposal. A school board discussion would suffice, he said, but the board need not take another vote on just this one measure.
But the scheduling issue was one of many worries for county sports. When school starts Aug. 27, athletes, parents, coaches and administrators must grapple with a new athletic fee scale. One of the measures the school board approved was raising the athletic fees to $45 for middle school students and to $60 for high school students. In years past, that was a one-time fee. But now students will pay more for each sport, $30 for each additional middle school sport and $50 at the high school level.
Long said it falls to schools' athletic booster clubs, and coaches themselves, to help families that cannot afford the new fees. But he also said the school district might help as well.
"We hope that the booster clubs, who we allow to sell (sodas) and refreshments, would be able to step up and pay those athletic fees for some of those kids," Long said. "Our intent was that no kid would be denied the opportunity to play sports. We would find a way.
"We would go out and find a way to get those kids on the team."
Long said he does not believe the new fees will reduce student participation in sports.
"I think any kid who wants to go out and play, the school system will try and get that athletic fee paid," Long said.
"And any coach worth their salt will help, too."
How can the school district help?
Some of the money earned from its contract with PepsiCo, the exclusive provider of beverages to county schools, could be used to help pay some athletic fees, Long said. Also, he said the Pasco Education Foundation, a nonprofit group that raises money for the district, could be asked to raise funds to cover some students' fees as well.
Relying on booster clubs to help pay those fees, however, threatens to strip them of money that would have gone to equipment, uniforms and other athletic expenses. It also will burden those clubs to expand their fundraising. But the alternative, Long said, would have been much worse.
"Keep in mind, some of the (budget-cutting) recommendations were to do away entirely with middle school sports," he said.
Long said the district remains committed to athletics, even in tough times.
"I think athletic programs are an absolutely essential part of the schools," he said.
"I never thought we would have to cut as much as we have the last two or three years."