HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS FEEL MONEY CRUNCH

By RACHEL GEORGE OF THE STAR NEWS

New Hanover County athletic directors and board of education members agree the district is in a budgetary pickle. They differ, though, on county athletics’ role in getting out of it.

While the board has proposed new cuts, the four high school athletic directors have come up with their own plan that would continue cost-cutting measures put in place this year, as well as expand them for next year.
“We realize that we’ve got to contribute, too, and we’re willing to do that,” said Laney athletic director Fred Lynch. “If we were just told the dollar amount that we were going to have to reduce, I think that would help a lot. … We know that everybody’s having a shortage. But we feel like, give us some input.”

Without knowing how much money they’ll get from the state and county, district officials have put together several proposals to cover the predicted difference, including a decrease in supplements to county coaches and a pay cut to county athletic directors. Neither of those options are flying with the county’s four high school athletic directors.

“Although while it appears to be a ripe apple to pick, when you look at the overall budget, (athletics is) actually a small, small sliver of the piece of the pie,” said Hoggard AD Scott Braswell. “(We hope) the hit that athletics takes, the cut that athletics takes, would not be disproportionate to the cuts that are going to be seen in the overall educational budget.” Cut here and here.

The county’s athletic directors already know they will have to cut 10 percent for 2009-10. Last year, the athletic department received just more than $1.5 million, or 0.7 percent of the district’s more than $204.6 million operating budget. The athletics budget covers everything from equipment to reimbursement for officials to coaching supplements. Teaching salaries for coaches and base salaries for athletic directors are not included.
The district’s reduction proposal cuts the number of game workers, transportation and meals for the playoffs and emergency athletic equipment repairs.

On top of the 10 percent overall cut, the district also has proposed cutting all extra-duty supplements by 5 percent – for everyone from the band director to the football coach. The district would save $21,630 by cutting supplements for coaches at the middle and high school level, part of a proposed additional 5 percent decrease in the budget.

While coaches wouldn’t be alone in sharing the burden, their athletic directors feel it’s unfair for people who are already underpaid.

“I think morale is the biggest issue when you’re talking about cutting coaching supplements,” said Lynch. “For some, they’re going to see it as a slap in the face that, you’re really telling me you don’t appreciate what I do.”
Added Braswell, “I don’t think that’s a good place to look for cuts. These are coaching stipends that have not been raised in 15 years.”

But the athletic directors could face their own financial hit. The district is considering moving them from 12-month to 11-month employees. The change would amount to an 8.33 percent pay cut which few other district employees would be required to take.

Alarmed by the ADs’ salaries, some board members say they don’t understand why the position is a full-time job year-round.

Combined, the four athletic directors make $292,516.28. County athletic director Joe Miller makes $96,000 annually.

“For me, that is an example of, ‘Is our budget in line with our mission?’” said board member Elizabeth Redenbaugh. “Right now, I don’t feel, as a board member, that our budget is aligned with our mission in every single area, and athletics is an area I can point to.

“We’ve got this bloated bureaucracy there. Do we really need all of that?” she added. “When you look at the salaries of those individuals, to me it doesn’t pass the smell test.”

Board member Nick Rhodes said the district would work to make sure employees are not hit with multiple cuts. For example, if ADs would lose money from their base salary and face a 5 percent cut on their athletic director supplements.

Rhodes added that an earlier proposal to return the ADs to the classroom was unlikely. According to Mary Hazel Small, the district’s chief financial officer, that would only save the district money if the ADs taught a full load of three out of four blocks since it’s a position that wouldn’t need to be filled.

However, a Star-News survey of 84 4A athletic directors statewide found that while the majority (60.7 percent) do teach at least one class, only one teaches a full course load. Next year, ADs in Forsyth County will take on a full class load to help with budget shortfalls there.

But the athletic directors point to their long hours and year-round commitment. They are among the first people at school each day and the last to leave once all games are over.

“The job of an AD, it is a full-time job,” said Lynch. “It can be a long, long day. It’s challenging, and then in between that, you’re trying to take care of yourself and your family. You’re trying to juggle everybody.”
A different set of options.

As some board members question the efficiency of the athletic directors, they aren’t merely sitting and waiting for the axe to fall.

For some of their coaches, the supplements are already so small that a 5 percent reduction will mean less than $100. Still, it will have an impact.

“When you look at it, yeah, it’s only 5 percent, but that hits home with them,” said New Hanover AD Keith Moore.

The four high school ADs have worked for more than a month to put together a proposal to make cuts that would: absorb the 10 percent cut desired by board, allow the coaches to keep their current supplements, and let the ADs stay in a 12-month position.

Among their proposals, all four schools would: purchase items, for example soccer balls and scorebooks, in bulk to get a lower price and save on shipping, cut the number of junior varsity contest, share transportation to major events such as regional meets and state championships, not order uniforms for one year until economy improves.

Some of those changes have already been implemented in an effort to be proactive. For instance, if tennis and volleyball are playing on the road, those players shared a bus to cut down on transportation costs. The schools have also ordered equipment in bulk. The conference moved game times up in some sports to save on electricity.
With realignment next year, the Wilmington schools will play Greenville Rose and New Bern in the Mideastern Conference. Cost-cutting plans are already in place. The tennis teams will play each conference foe once, not twice. All weekly wrestling duals will be eliminated and the teams will compete in all their conference dual meets in one day.

“We knew that the budget cuts were coming,” said Ashley athletic director Roy Turner, “so we started already.”
Let’s work together.

That attitude is one the ADs hope will help them as numbers are crunched by school board members, who agreed on the importance of athletics, yet reinforced they must do their part.

The board has not yet received the athletic directors’ proposal, but Redenbaugh and Rhodes were encouraged by their willingness to help with the problem.

“I applaud them for taking that approach,” said Rhodes, “ ’cause that tells me they understand what we’re up against, and they’re willing to work with us.”

Rhodes said the board expects to learn about its funding in May or June. Then the district will decide what cuts and changes need to be finalized. The ADs hope their input will be considered.

“Our ultimate goal is to say, ‘Give us a number, give us a percentage and tell us you can fund this amount of money,’” said Turner.

“And once they give us that amount of money, then let us as athletic directors, principals, coaches, put our heads together and say, ‘These are the line items. This is how we can make it work.’”