High school sports not immune to cuts in district funding

Between shouts of encouragement, parents and neighbors share conversation. Between the falling raindrops, youngsters rush by, chewing hot dogs and sucking on lollipops. Between sharply hit liners and soft fly balls, more than a dozen children create a charming chaos on a bordering playground.

Amid the clamor taking pace in the stands, the Bloomington South High School Panthers collided with the Terre Haute South High School Braves on a field that looked more like a dishrag than a diamond on this particular night.

However, this serene setting at Bloomington’s Winslow Fields might come to symbolize an aberration more than the norm of teenage life if budget cuts continue to gnaw away at high schools across the state of Indiana.

High school administrators are turning to creative ways to ensure their athletic programs aren’t negatively impacted by the decreases in funding that have hit high schools statewide, and they’ve found they have community support.

Expensive athletics
Numerous Indiana high schools, such as Franklin Community High School, are forcing students to pay an unprecedented fee for the ability to participate in high school sports.

Franklin has imposed a fee of $25 per sport per student to compensate for transportation funding that was lost in recent budget cuts, principal Craig McCaffery said.

McCaffery said the decision to impose the fee has been made public through broadcasts of school board meetings and that there hasn’t been any backlash directed toward his office.

“I haven’t received any negative feedback at this point,” McCaffery said.
Franklin’s fee seems scant compared to other schools’ fees in Indiana, which can climb as high as $200, McCaffery said. 

All of the money accrued from the fees at Franklin will be designated for transportation costs. Students who want to play but are unable to pay the fee have an additional option — performing community service.

Anderson Community School Corporation has also implemented a fee for student athletes, $10 per sport and $5 for students who are on either a free or reduced lunch program, athletic director Steve Schindler said.

Anderson’s decision has also been incorporated seamlessly into student life.
“It came up at one school board meeting, and two months later it was instituted,” Schindler said.

Indiana High School Athletic Association commissioner Blake Ress said he is aware of this trend across the state, yet he also sees local leadership adequately managing the situation.

“In some cases the schools feel that they have to recoup some money to continue their programs,” Ress said. “I think that within each school district, they’re making the best decision for their community.”

Group effort
At Winslow Fields, teams are taking measures to ensure their players have the necessary resources to equip themselves for each season.

Renee Jung has a daughter who plays softball for Bloomington South, and although the school has yet to implement a pay-to-play policy, she said, “We’d rather pay the fee than not be able to participate.”

To help avoid this scenario, however, Jung helps collect a $5 admission fee from attendees of the softball game and notes that the team raises money through advertising both in the game program and banners that line the outfield fence.

Bloomington South varsity softball coach Meg Montgomery oversaw the action and acknowledged that although the cuts haven’t had an impact on her team yet, she does foresee a scenario where her team might not always be immune to the budget cuts.

“I know they’re looking into assistant coaches, and I would hate to lose my staff or have positions cut,” Montgomery said.

As evidenced by smiles and cheers during the game, Montgomery said she enjoys her involvement with Panther softball.

“I love it,” Montgomery said. “I wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t love coaching, and the biggest thrill for me is seeing these kids excel and achieve, and one of the greatest rewards that I have is seeing a kid mature through the years. I want them to focus on teamwork and work on communication skills between players, parents and coaches and carry that out into the workforce.”

A family priority
As she looks out onto the field, Jung adds her own thoughts about her daughter Audrey’s scholastic athletic experience.

“She’s been playing since she was eight, so this is the big leagues for us,” Jung said. “Our daughter has been playing with her teammates since she started, so we’re like a family.”

Darin Warthan, a fellow parent who has a daughter on the Panther team, shares a determination similar to Jung’s.

“In order for my daughter to keep playing, I would do whatever it took. We’ve worked for many years to get to this point,” Warthan said. “We all get pretty geared up for it, and it’s a pretty big thing for our family. I’d say we put a lot of work into traveling, and the high school game is what we all look forward to.”