Can high school sports survive and at what cost? LancasterOnline 07/29/2011

Can high school sports survive and at what cost?
With pension funding becoming a greater factor as schools struggle to balance budgets, activities funding is likely to be reduced further. That means athletic programs will need even more help to keep going in the future.Intelligencer Journal

Lancaster New Era

Jul 29, 2011 00:01 Without even more help from booster clubs and from families of the athletes themselves, empty playing fields are likely to become a more common sight in the years to come.
By MATT BLYMIER and ED GRUVER
Staff

The previous three stories in this series shed light on financial shortcomings faced by Lancaster County school districts, the measures athletic directors have taken to generate revenue and the importance of scholastic athletics to students and the community.

This, the final story, will attempt to answer the following question:

Can high school sports survive and at what cost?

A loaded question, for sure.

"We're all hoping (school budget cuts are) a stopgap," Columbia athletic director Jim Rhoads said. "We hope the state will fund education the way it should, but I don't see that happening."

The easy answer is yes, sports will survive, but not in the way Americans have been accustomed to.

Athletics likely would be partly or fully privatized.

Here's why.
Even when the economy recovers and state funding for schools returns prior levels, there is one big financial issue.

Pensions will be an albatross around the necks of the state government and school districts for years to come.

After the economy tanked following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the state legislature reduced the amount districts had to pay into the pension system. Meanwhile, school employees continued to pay much higher rates. The legislature also increased benefits for school employees, increasing liabilities.

When the stock market crashed in 2007, earnings plummeted. Now, state and district employers must make up for that non-funded liability. Even though the legislature approved a law reducing benefits for new employees and capping yearly rate increases, contribution rates for employers will soar.

The pension rate, which dropped below 2 percent a decade ago, rose to 8.65 percent in 2011-12. In 2013-14, it's projected to increase to 16.69; by 2017-18, it will likely exceed 25 percent. Those numbers represent the percentage of each employee's salary that employers pay into the Public School Employees' Retirement System.

That's millions of dollars per year for one item, over which school districts have little control.

Since the 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act caps the amount by which a public school can raise taxes each year, the increased revenue may not be enough to cover the expense.

Do the math.

Expenses, including inflation, gas prices and pensions will increase drastically.

Revenue, from the state to schools and from schools to their programs, will remain flat or decrease.

Something has to give.

And that appears to be extracurricular activities in general and athletics in particular.

Two likely scenarios may arise due to these future financial issues. Both can sustain athletics, but at great cost for the public.

Public school districts will duplicate the funding methods of many private Division III colleges.

The school will pay a percentage of the cost of athletics (between 20-50 percent) and the department will raise the rest of the funds itself. At the college level, alumni fill a majority of the funding gaps. At the high school level, funds would be raised by activity fees and booster clubs. This would allow an objective district administrator (athletic director) to still oversee the athletic department.

Conestoga Valley is one local school that already has the pieces in place should this scenario occur.

Most sports teams at CV have their own booster clubs that do their own fund-raising. All of the separate booster clubs contribute to one booster club, Buckskins Boosters, which is a consortium of coaches, administrators and other booster club presidents. That group spends money on various extracurricular activities projects in the district. In six years, the club has raised more than $100,000 for facility improvements.

That appears the most likely and best case for the the future of high school athletics.

The worst-case scenario is the "European model."

In most European countries there are no high school facilities and no high school sports teams. Instead, there are independent club teams that the entire community can participate in. People pay around $70 to help pay for equipment and uniforms, and the state funds the facilities.

"I think we're a long way from the European model," Donegal athletic director Ron Kennedy opined. "Athletics are too embedded in our culture."

The benefit from both scenarios is short and simple: Athletics will continue.

The negatives are long and complicated, as is nearly anything when money is involved.

Both scenarios cost money, meaning parents would basically be taxed twice for something they used to be taxed once for. This could create issues with parents who would expect their child to play since they're paying.

Gone would be low-income students unable to pay, multisport athletes unable to afford more than one sport and the non-star athlete unwilling to pay to ride the bench.

"Kids will cut themselves (from the team)," Lancaster Catholic athletic director Terry Klugh said. "They'll think, 'Why should I pay if I'm sitting on the bench?' "

Said Rhoads, "A lot of kids who aren't stars on the team are going to be lost, and they're usually the ones who benefit from athletics the most."

Gone could be the student that gets in trouble and has poor grades in middle school before reaching high school and participating in sports. Finding the structure, discipline, life skills and camaraderie that sports offers makes this student a better person.

And, eventually, a better member of society. Better for us all.

Athletics are already a privilege and shouldn't be reserved for the privileged.

The future may demand something different.

Something more.
mblymier@lnpnews.com
egruver@lnpnews.com

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