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The BH-BL
Board of Education has formed a committee to
make recommendations to the Board on questions related to long range planning for sports.
The committee will meet from late October 2007 through
January 2008 to recommend answers to the Board of
Education on specific questions related to focusing
and strengthening the interscholastic sports
program.
See below for:
Board of Education Charge to
the Committee
Background: In recent years, the BH-BL
Board of Education and Athletic Director have
received many requests to create and support
additional sports teams. There continue to be
requests for: a) new district-funded or self-funded
sports, b) additional levels of existing sports, and
c) additional spending on existing teams.
When every year schools face
growing state and federal mandates plus many other
academic and economic pressures, finding additional
dollars for sports is not easy, and choosing among
competing sports proposals is particularly
difficult.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Strategic
Planning for Interscholastic Sports is being formed
to help provide the Board of Education with criteria
it can use in making these decisions as well as
recommendations for potential changes in district
policies and practices.
General
Charge: How do we maintain the current
highly successful interscholastic sports program in
the context of the district’s ongoing fiscal
constraints? The Board of Education is seeking
criteria and/or recommendations in four areas.
1.
Context: We have an outstanding interscholastic
sports program. We also have many non-school,
community sports programs and booster clubs, which
support the interscholastic program in various ways.
Specific Charge:
Considering the strong community sports
opportunities within the local area, what are the
advantages of moving toward having no more than
three levels of teams (i.e., modified, JV, and
varsity) in existing interscholastic sports?
2.
Context: In keeping with its mission of
offering opportunities for the personal growth of
all pupils, the district wishes to provide a
balanced interscholastic program that offers both
training and experience in life-time sports as well
as high-caliber, highly competitive sports
experiences.
Specific Charge: How
can we ensure this balance is reflected in our
interscholastic sports program? Should we have
criteria to promote and/or limit participation as
needed on some or all teams? If so, what criteria
would be appropriate?
3.
Context: Asking residents to “self-fund”
certain interscholastic teams creates stress and
uncertainty for the teams in their efforts to raise
the required funds as well as issues of fairness and
control. Except for outside venue costs and certain
equipment costs, the Board
wishes to move away from self-funded interscholastic
teams — yet leave the door open to potentially
adding sports down the road if community interests
shift.
Specific Charge: What
steps should the district take to redirect our focus
on strengthening sports programs rather than on
adding more self-funded sports opportunities? Should
current sports programs go through a periodic
evaluation to determine if there is enough interest
to warrant their continuation? What criteria would
be appropriate for making a decision to cut or add
sports to the interscholastic program?
4.
Context: State regulations, Section 2
guidelines and Board of Education policies generally
spell out who pays for what relative to
interscholastic sports. However, gray areas exist,
and policies vary from one school district to the
next. The Board seeks more specificity in this area.
Specific Charge: What
sports expenses, supplies or activities can
appropriately be supported using funds from booster
clubs? Alternately, what types of expenses are not
appropriate for booster club funding? For example,
BH-BL policy provides for district-paid
transportation to competitions within Section 2,
while booster clubs have paid for transportation to
non-league competitions. Also, when can parts of
athletes’ uniforms be paid for by a booster club?
Committee Membership &
Timeline:
The committee will have a total of 12 voting and 4
non-voting members as follows:
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4 coaches
and/or staff: Matt Shell, Melissa Thomas,
Rich Battenhausen & Kevin Ahern |
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6
BH-BL residents (non-staff): Don
Allocco, Andris Beiniks, Chuck Griswold, Ken
Madej Liza McErlean, & Maria Weeks. |
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2
District administrators: George
Seymour & Tim Brunson |
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Plus 4 ex-officio members to serve as
liaisons and provide background information:
the Athletic Director, the Superintendent, and 2 Board of Education members:
Bob McGuire, Jim Schultz, Mike Wolf & John
Blowers |
The committee will be co-chaired by
one community member and one staff member:
Chuck Griswold & Tim Brunson
Timeline:
The committee is asked to complete
its work and report to the Board of Education in
February 2008, so that committee
recommendations can be received in time to be
considered in developing the district’s 2008-09
budget.
Committee
Documents:
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