Once again, a booster club comes to the rescue of the Morgan
Hill School District when it is faced with budgetary constraints
and possible program cuts.
Once again, a booster club comes to the rescue of the Morgan Hill School District when it is faced with budgetary constraints and possible program cuts.
Last year, it was the music boosters at Live Oak and the two middle schools drumming up $28,000 to save the elementary music program; this year, it is the Live Oak athletic boosters chipping in close to $26,000 to save eight sports.
The sports narrowly escaping the budgetary ax include freshman baseball (boys), freshman volleyball (girls), varsity golf (boys and girls teams), varsity tennis (boys and girls teams), varsity diving (co-ed) and junior varsity wrestling (co-ed).
“We’ve agreed to fund the eight teams as requested, since our commitment is to the student-athletes of Live Oak,” said Pam Mom, the Booster Board president. “But we have made it clear to the administration of Live Oak that this contribution is for this school year only. We are buying time for the district. If there are to be future requests of this nature, we want a presence at the planning and negotiation stages. We can’t be expected to bail out the district without some advance planning.”
Booster members said that they would not be able to continue to fully support sports programs in the future because the club was designed for assistance only.
The purpose of the Live Oak Athletic Boosters Club is “to promote, assist and support the athletic programs and activities at Live Oak High School,” and the mission of the club is “to provide financial aid, as available, to those Live Oak High School athletic programs that need assistance.”
“The club was presented with what could only be described as an 11th hour crisis request – fund these sports or they will be discontinued,” Mom said. “In the case of the fall sports, that meant immediately.”
The funds to save the sports come largely from the booster club’s reserves, Mom said. The club will continue its fundraising efforts, beginning with a golf tournament Oct. 3 at Eagle Ridge Golf Course and Country Club.
The Morgan Hill Board of Education voted unanimously to reinstate freshman football and boys’ and girls’ varsity tennis at its July 21 meeting.
Trustees emphasized the need for the community to step up to the plate and raise the money so all the sports could be saved.
The initial program cut came during the April 7 meeting, as the board was making cuts recommended by the performanced-based budget committee to make up for a $3.4 million shortfall.
Specific sports were not mentioned; the cuts were grouped under the heading of secondary extracurricular activities, which included freshmen sports, two girls high school sports, two boys high school sports, one high school co-ed sport, cheerleading at Britton, middle school yearbook, school newspaper and some ASB and band activities.
During the June 3 board meeting, the board was asked during public comment to reverse the decision to cut $30,000 from extra curricular activities. The board then directed the superintendent and staff to look into reinstating the sports that were scheduled to be eliminated.
District staff pointed out that what the board approved during the April 7 meeting was not the elimination of athletics but the reduction of extra duty stipends by $30,000.
Because the stipends are part of the collective bargaining agreement between the district and the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, the stipends cannot be unilaterally changed.
District administrators and union leaders began meeting to come up with a plan.
Trustee Shellé Thomas pointed out during the July 21 meeting that there is no money in the budget for the programs, so the money would have to come from parents and the community.
Trustee George Panos, who has been a champion of the “minor” sports such as golf and tennis, pointed out that the board had set a priority on varsity sports, that any non-varsity sports should be cut first.
“What we are striving for is equity and equality,” he said.
Panos was concerned that freshman football was reinstated before varsity golf and varsity diving.
The football season was getting under way as school began and freshman football was bumped to the front of the list.
The district used the following criteria to determine the order of cuts: “compliance with Title IX provisions of federal law; maximizing the number of students who would retain athletic options; per capita cost of offering a sport; recognition that alternative revenue might allow the high school to reinstate the sport; and recognition that varsity sports should be reinstated first whenever possible.”
Sports Editor Nathan Mixter contributed to this story.
