By David Paling

David Paling is the Director of Athletics, Health, and Physical Education for the Middleboro (Mass.) Public Schools. He has served in this position since 1987 and has been contributing articles to Athletic Management since 1995.

As funding for public schools continues to take hits, administrators face the increasingly daunting challenge of providing a quality educational experience for their students. With less money in operational budgets and costs constantly rising, improving a school is becoming nearly impossible. In fact, for some, simply maintaining the status quo is moving out of reach.

While school superintendents struggle with weighty matters such as class size, professional development, state-mandated testing, and core subject requirements, high school athletic directors are losing sleep as well. Sports programs represent an important piece of the quality educational experience, but they have become extremely vulnerable to budget reductions.

What are schools doing in response? Here in Massachusetts (where schools across the state have dealt with extensive funding cuts over the past few years) athletic directors are implementing fees, finding ways to save money, and partnering with boosters in new ways. They are also working hard to figure out the best strategies for their particular community. And while the actions vary from one school district to another, one theme remains constant: Athletic opportunities for students are still seen as extremely valuable and no one is willing to let them go without a fight.

OUR STORY
Here in the Middleboro district, athletics bore the brunt of cuts when the budget ax fell four years ago. When operational monies lessened, school administrators huddled and decided to decrease the number of programs available to students. We eliminated five junior high level teams (boys' and girls' basketball, baseball, softball, and cheerleading) and five freshman level teams (football, boys' and girls' basketball, baseball, and softball).

We also established a user fee, with students paying $175 per sport. Athletes participating in three sports a year had their fee capped at $350.

Losing 10 programs and requiring kids to pay to play naturally led to a decline in participation. We didn't eliminate any j.v. teams, so that gave some of our freshmen a chance to join teams. But not all of them did so. And our junior high population was left with intramural opportunities only.

While the above strategies lessened expenses and increased revenue, they still did not cover the severe budget reductions we were facing, making a third tactic necessary. Our next step was to form the MASBA (Middleboro All Sports Booster Association) fundraising organization.

At the time, we had a handful of small booster groups supporting particular sports, and our superintendent eliminated them in favor of MASBA, a single group that was charged with raising funds for all of our teams equitably. MASBA has been in operation for about four years now and has contributed thousands of dollars toward athletics. It has become an important part of our department and we wouldn't be able to exist without them.

Many of the fundraisers conducted by MASBA are of the standard variety. Boosters work the concessions stands at home football games, host an annual golf tournament, and sell coupon books. The group has also thought outside the box, establishing a Middleboro High Hall of Fame with an annual banquet that generates money through ticket sales. And it has put on a Pizza Bowl where area pizza vendors provided samples of their best pizzas and revenue was brought in through admission tickets.

The combination of program eliminations, user fees, and fundraising efforts all work to keep us afloat. But our district is also planning for the future. When I retire next year, my position will change in order to save money. While I have been in charge of athletics, health, and physical education (with no teaching responsibilities), my replacement will only oversee athletics and be required to teach at 25 percent capacity, which equals one class per day. That will allow the district to employ a part-time instead of a full-time teacher to cover the other 75 percent teacher slot. Physical education and health responsibilities will shift to principals.

This plan can potentially save thousands of dollars, which would allow us to restore the five freshman level teams eliminated four years ago. And while in an ideal world I don't think the school's athletic director should be required to teach classes, it is a minimal teaching schedule, and he or she will not have physical education and health oversight responsibilities.

BASICALLY ZERO
As bad as Middleboro's plight was, Hull High School Athletic Director Jim Quatromoni describes a scenario that is much worse. A blue-collar community on the south shore of Boston, the school has been struggling since the 2009-10 school year when 14 teachers were laid off and the athletic department and booster group were asked to generate more than $200,000 to keep athletics going.

"Our budget two years ago was basically zero," says Quatromoni. "And this past year it was not much different. The only money allocated for athletics is to pay my salary. Despite the magnitude of the situation, we've been able to keep all of our programs and our number of participants has not dropped."

The school started by implementing a user fee system. Two years ago, it charged $200 for one sport, $150 for the second, and $100 for a third. This year the fees increased to $250, $200, and $175. Their two most expensive sports, football and ice hockey, include a $25 surcharge. The maximum any one person pays in a year is $575 and there is a family cap of $1,050 for a year.

In addition, Hull High School coaches have agreed to work without raises and Quatromoni has reduced the number of contests across the board by about 20 percent. All events are staffed with volunteer workers, and one assistant ice hockey coaching position has been eliminated.

Just as important have been the efforts of the booster club. "If not for the dedication and passion of our booster president, I don't know where we'd be right now," Quatromoni says. "Working with her has been like working alongside a fellow employee. We are shoulder to shoulder on this thing and we manage to stay just ahead of it. My advice for anyone else in this position is to find someone who has the ability to lead people through a difficult situation and establish a relationship with them."

The Hull booster group sells calendars, holds a progressive raffle, puts up three toll booths in town each year, has a sticker drive, hosts a sunset cruise social, and conducts a Meadow Muffin event (patrons can buy deeds of land in the hopes that a real cow will "plop" on their space, resulting in cash prizes for the lucky deed holders). Their fundraisers are frequent and continuous.

Hull athletes are definitely part of the solution, as they have come to accept that they need to participate in fundraising activities. The student-athletes represent the main sales force and they help publicize events. They use Facebook to get the word out on what might be needed at the moment and their efforts have been generally successful.

"We are surviving, not improving," Quatromoni says. "I feel like I'm sitting in a canoe that is leaking, just plugging the holes. We don't buy new equipment. We are not replacing the things we should be. At this point I think there may be a bit of fatigue within the ranks. But we are not giving up. Our sports are something that are worth fighting for."

RETIREE TO THE RESCUE
Similar to Middleboro and Hull, Apponequet Regional High School in Lakeville has begun user fees. "About three years ago, we experienced a budget reduction of approximately 50 percent," says Athletic Director Bob Liljedahl. "We've been in the user fee business ever since."

Apponequet charges athletes $300 for the first sport and $150 for a second, while the third sport is free. "Despite the fees, our participation rates have actually gone up," says Liljedahl. "The total amount of money we take in from the user fee system is a close approximation of the money we lost in our 50 percent reduction."

Apponequet has not had to cut any programs, nor does it do a lot of fundraising. But it has restructured its administrative staff to save money. Liljedahl is a retired educator who serves in a part-time capacity at the school. As a state retiree, Liljedahl is restricted in the amount of money he can legally make (Massachusetts law allows him to work a maximum of 960 hours in a year). But, not surprisingly, the demands of his job require additional hours. Liljedahl usually arrives at school after noon and remains until all events have finished. He often works at home in the mornings, and weekend duties are part of the routine. His home telephone rings and the tasks accumulate quickly.

Prior to Liljedahl's appointment as part-time athletic director, Apponequet had divided the duties of the position as a .4 teacher and .6 athletic director. Although he is no longer teaching, Liljedahl now gets paid far less to perform basically the same role.

"It's not the ideal model," says Liljedahl. "If I didn't like the work so much I probably wouldn't do it. I think the day is coming soon where the position will be restored to its previous status. But it is something a school could consider if it were facing severe financial conditions."

FINDING THE RIGHT FEE
As the above stories attest, user fees have become commonplace in our state. But they are not a simple solution. Liljedahl warns against implementing fees without prior research and analysis.

"If you have to apply fees it's important to profile your kids' situations," he says. "A careful determination has to be made regarding the amount you can charge while retaining your numbers. You don't want to lose participants as a result of user fees."

Randolph High School Athletic Director Mike McGrath saw firsthand what Liljedahl is talking about. A struggling community socio-economically, Randolph did not respond well to user fees. When the school tried assessing a $100 fee that would cover an athlete for three sports per year, participation dropped alarmingly. The fee has since been rescinded, and McGrath is immersed in finding other ways to wrestle the money monster.

"We tried operating with just varsity level sports for a period of time," McGrath explains. "Of course, that limited opportunities to participate. And we've tried fundraisers with our kids out selling things like coupon books and cookie dough, but success has been minimal. Fortunately, our town voted to approve a budget override, so we are not as bad off as we once were. But we're still searching for ways to save and bring in money."

One unique solution has been scheduling. Randolph is not affiliated with any league for the 2011-12 school year and is producing all schedules as an independent school. "We try to get as many games as possible with nearby schools," says McGrath. "The shorter the distance, the less money we need for transportation. I'm also trying to double up on teams going to the same site on the same day. And when possible, we use a school van driven by a coach instead of paying for a bus and driver."

Sandwich High School, on Cape Cod, has kept its fees relatively low, charging athletes $150 per sport (with football and ice hockey players paying a little more). But that does not cover all of its costs. Team fundraising and booster club efforts raise a good chunk of money, and creativity transporting teams to games saves more.

Sandwich has partnered with area schools--a car pooling coup--giving a team whom they are not scheduled to play but is traveling in the same direction, a ride to their game. The teams then split the cost of the single bus.

"We also try to arrange for parents to drive athletes home following games," says Athletic Director Marty Cosgrove. "That way, the bus can drop our team off then leave, saving us money on the total time of the trip."

On the other hand, high fees can work just fine in some communities. At Milton High School, athletes pay $250 per sport with a family cap provision of $1,250 for the year. Ice hockey players pay $500 each due to the ice rink rental costs.

"Our fees have not hurt our participation rates," says Milton Athletic Director Steve Traister. "We generated about $260,000 from fees this year."

The Milton booster organization also helps significantly. It holds a golf tournament, sells banners with advertisements on them, hosts a comedy night, and organizes a walk-a-thon. Banner sales have raised approximately $80,000, comedy nights can bring in $10,000, and walk-a-thon receipts have ranged from $8,000-$30,000.

Traister attends many of the booster planning meetings and helps out in a variety of ways at fundraisers. "Lending a hand at these events is something I do," he says. "It's an unwritten aspect of my job."

SELF FUNDED TEAMS
Hanover High School saw budget cuts start in 2008-09. The athletic department had not had a user fee for many years, but established a $150 charge, which has continually increased and will be $270 for most sports starting this fall. Members of the football, basketball, and ice hockey teams will pay $350.

Along with the establishment of fees, Hanover decided to cut some sports teams from its budget. It chose two programs that had low participation numbers and high operating costs: girls' gymnastics and boys' golf. In response, separate booster groups were formed for each sport, which raise all the money needed for their team. As a result, those programs remain as part of Hanover's athletic department, but they are now self-funded.

However, Athletic Director Fran Coyle raises a cautionary flag when it comes to self-funded teams. A couple of years ago, with the facility rental costs of indoor track a deterring factor in maintaining the sport, the school reached an agreement with a group of track parents. Hanover would continue to offer indoor track and field for their athletes in the winter, but parents would pay the facility costs. The season was held, but the fledgling booster group reneged on paying the bills associated with the program.

"The school was left holding the bag," Coyle says. "We've since eliminated the program entirely."

NEW IDEAS
At Mashpee High School, Athletic Director Mike Horne does not have the challenges to the extent that many of his neighbors do. Presently there are no user fees at his school and there have been no significant cuts to any programs. But there could be problems on the horizon.

"Our athletic budget does not increase commensurate with rising costs," Horne says. "Our expenses go up, while the amount of money we have to operate remains the same."

It may be Horne's willingness to seek new sources of funding that helps hold off user fees and program reductions. Next year he'll be in charge of the school store and he sees that as a unique opportunity to increase the department's funds while teaching students business skills.

"Senior projects are a graduation requirement at Mashpee," Horne explains. "With this in mind, I'm going to work with three seniors throughout the year running the school store. The plan is to sell Mashpee Falcons attire--T-shirts, sweats, scarves, etc.--during lunch periods.

"We'll work together on things like design, inventory, bookkeeping, and ordering," he continues. "The students will be in charge of selling the merchandise. All the profits will go toward the athletic budget."

Horne is considering theme sales as well. "We might do flowers on Mother's Day, and something else on Valentine's Day," he says. "It's a project I'll assess as we gain some experience with it. If it will help us financially then I'm willing to try it. I am motivated to help our kids in any way I can. We don't want to find ourselves in a position of having to cut sports."

Sidebar: Too Far?
Some school districts needing to cut costs are taking a closer look at the structure of their administrative staff as it relates to athletics. At Pembroke (Mass.) High School, Bill Fallon, who has served as Athletic Director since the school opened in 2004, is seeing his full-time position morph into dual roles overseeing school discipline and athletics.

In a money-saving measure designed by the superintendent of schools, starting this fall, the person who holds this position will serve as an assistant principal each day until the final bell rings. Then, from 2 p.m. on, the individual will perform the duties of athletic director. Fallon chose not to pursue the newly created position and plans to move elsewhere.

"I don't see how either job can be done effectively given this structure," Fallon says. "We have a lot of sports at Pembroke, and the dual roles will demand too much of one person. To me, this scenario, which essentially combines two positions into one, represents things going backwards."