Funding cutoff to Ann Arbor school sports programs should be delayed one year
Editor’s note: The following letter was addressed to John Young, athletic director at Skyline High School.
I’m writing as a concerned parent of a Skyline student. My daughter has been a member of the Skyline Dance Team for all of the 3 years since Skyline’s opening. She, and the other 24 team members, have put in countless hours in practice over these years and are very proud of their improvements and accomplishments as a team. They are also proud of the role that they’ve played in boosting school spirit at pep rallies and games for the Skyline football and basketball teams.
Up to now, this dance team has always been at a significant disadvantage versus their competition at other schools since the Skyline team had no traditions, no history, and no seniors. For the past 3 years, despite constant coaching changes, the team had persevered and built the foundation for team history and tradition. This upcoming school year would be the first year that the team would have consistency in coaching from the previous year. This would be the year that the team would have its first male team member. It would also be the first year that the team would have a group of seniors who would bring their experience to bear in leveling the playing field for the team in competition.
When it was announced on June 29 that the district would no longer fund the Skyline Dance Team, the team was at a summer camp in western Michigan (the costs of the camp were fully funded by the team parents) working to learn and improve their routines for the upcoming season. It came as devastating news to all involved: parents, coaches, and team members that this team’s future was in jeopardy.
The school board’s decision that these cuts would be reviewed and potentially reconsidered gives us hope that you will consider delaying the cut for one school year. This delay would give the parents the time needed to begin the process of organizing the team as a club sport. Without this time, the team may lose at least one year of competition and the Skyline football and basketball games would lose the school spirit generated by the dance team’s performances and enthusiasm. In the case of the Seniors on the team, they would lose forever the opportunity that they’ve worked so hard to create over the last 3 years: their senior dance season.
Please consider our request to delay the cut in your financial support of the dance team. The dance team requires very modest funding when compared to other sports and much of the funding for the team comes from the “pay-for-play” fees paid by the team member families. The team would certainly work with you to minimize any costs to the district during the upcoming year and the parents would begin organizing as a club sport for the future.
Brian Mielewski
Ann Arbor
Comments
John B.
Thu, Jul 21, 2011 : 9:49 p.m.
Congratulations, Brian, it looks like your campaign worked. Dance is not being cut at Skyline. I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 10:13 p.m.
RG wrote: " . . . Do you see the difference? Perhaps you suggest abolishing school board meetings?" Welcome to the reductio ad absurdum argument. No, I am not advocating secrecy. Far from it. But the idea that the school board needs to take the pulse of the community, to put its finger into the wind, every time it needs to make decisions like these IS absurd. Anyone who has been paying attention to state and local news for the last six months knew and understood that severe cuts were coming. The time to have communicated YOUR wishes to YOUR school board was THEN—NOT after the board and the administrators have spent hundreds of hours putting together a budget that works in these fiscally restricted times. And as for your contention that you want after-the-fact input (as opposed to what I described above) only on the big decisions: ALL of them are big decisions in a school district with 3,000 employees, 16,000 students, 3.5 million square feet of building space, hundreds of millions of dollars of property and equipment, and a $180 million budget. This is a republican democracy--even at the lowest level of government (e.g., school board). I was not aware that such was a "quaint notion". I guess you'd prefer dictatorship? Wow. There was corruption in Seattle? And who, according to your quote, launched a "sweeping investigation"? The elected school board. The idea that every decision needs to be floated like a trial balloon for public approval/disapproval is, I say again, ludicrous. Submit your input to your elected representatives. Don't like the result? Vote 'em out. That's how it works. Good Night and Good Luck
Ron Granger
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 9:47 p.m.
@Edward R Murrow's Ghost "There is public input. It's called: the school board election. The idea that every decision made by the school board requires public ratification is ridiculous." -- This isn't "every decision". They are major budget decisions involving millions of dollars and teacher layoffs. Do you see the difference? Perhaps you suggest abolishing school board meetings? Ending FOIA requests for information? That is a current point of contention - they refuse to disclose how they are spending money on athletics, or even what the budget is. And... Your quaint notion about elections being the end of oversight failed spectacularly in Seattle: "Seattle Public Schools spending targeted in criminal probe Seattle Public Schools spent up to $1.8 million on contract work that was never done or didn't benefit the district, triggering a secret criminal investigation into allegations of financial fraud. At the same time, the School Board has launched a sweeping review of who should be held accountable, up to and including Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson." <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014303247_audit23m.html" rel='nofollow'>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014303247_audit23m.html</a>
aaparent
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 6:24 p.m.
Why did Lacrosse get a break in between the original proposal mailed out on a Saturday morning? With no prior meetings for parent input or notice that parent input would not be used, why did some parent input receive consideration without a chance for all parents to give input? The email sent on that saturday morning did not give notice to parents to attend the board meeting or provide feedback. It was written as if it was the new plan for fall 2011. I am confused by the process. Is this what happened: --The athletic directors were given the task of cutting money, they did that, --parents complained, the newspaper quoted parents who were upset and then parents complained during public comments at the board meeting. --Then the board said let's study this some more, go back and do it over again, and after that, some sports were reinstated in a revised proposal and others were not. --What was the rationale for the change? --Was the rationale that the sports reinstated in proposal round 2 were the sports of the kids whose parents who spoke out between the Saturday email and the Wednesday board meeting (Lacrosse?). --But other sports or activities such as dance, stay on the chopping block because those parents didn't get the memo that they could speak up at the 11th hour and have some impact? What is the process in place? Who is in charge?
aaparent
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 9:09 p.m.
Thank you for the answers. I found a link to the story about the meeting. The story was posted at noon and the meeting was at 3 p.m. that day. I still wonder if the district send a notice to all the sports proposed for cuts to attend? It seems Lacrosse was the largest contingent and in the new draft, their program was given an extra year to come up with a plan to form a club. <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/news/athletic-directors-to-present-revisions-to-athletics-budget-cuts-at-meeting-wednesday/">http://www.annarbor.com/news/athletic-directors-to-present-revisions-to-athletics-budget-cuts-at-meeting-wednesday/</a> The new proposal will include a recommendation that moving boys and girls lacrosse to a club sport be delayed for at least another year. Though Skyline, Huron and Pioneer were the only lacrosse teams in the SEC receiving general fund dollars last year, cutting off that funding was one of the points of most contention when the original cuts were presented to the public. "It will allow teams 19 months to build programs and funds to move into being a club sport," Margolis said. Another concern from the original cuts was the elimination of all freshman sports except for football. The athletic directors revisited which sports are still feasible at the freshman level based on participation at the school and an ability to field opponents and get quality coaching. Margolis said the athletic directors spoke with coaches to see which sports could easily be absorbed by existing JV and varsity programs and which were having trouble filling a schedule. She expects some, but not all, freshman programs to still be cut. Margolis feels that in the time since the original proposal, people have become more educated on the ramifications of some of the cuts and the reasoning behind them. Some wondered why a 17 percent cut across all sports wasn't done, and Margolis said the athletic directors have done a better job of explaining their rationale. "There is a difference between equal and equitable, and I think that's been better explained," Margolis said.
kms
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 8:35 p.m.
It was reported that lacrosse was cut because Ann Arbor is the only district in the SEC that funds it as a varsity and not a club sport.
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 6:42 p.m.
I believe part of the reconsideration was related to Title IX. They probably realized that continuing Freshman football bot no Freshman girls' sports was going to cause a lawsuit. Also, Lacrosse is a growing sport. Many people I talked to, regardless of whether they were personally affected by the changes, were very surprised Lacrosse was completely cut. None of that was to agree with or disagree with the cuts. Just providing some opinions gathered over the last couple weeks through my discussions with other parents.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 6:10 p.m.
Debling wrote: "Time to start cutting all funding to these so that we can start directing the funds to where they are needed. Education." I agree with the sentiment but, for this to work, every school district must do the same thing. Why? Let us suppose AAPS cuts all sports except those that can raise enough money to be self-supporting. It seems likely that many parents would forgo that option and would instead take advantage of schools of choice to send their children to districts that continue to fully fund their atheletic programs. That means that the AAPS would lose that athlete's per pupil funding. Doing the math, AAPS would not need to lose many athletes (and one presumes their siblings, as well), before cutting the athletic program would actually cost the district more money than it saved. So, yes, in a perfect world, money for schools ought go for academics, not athletics. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. And, BTW, for those who see band, orchestra, and drama as "extracurricular": those are spin-offs of credit classes whose programs lead directly to credit-granting programs at colleges and universities. Last time I checked, one cannot get a degree in football or in field hockey. Good Night and Good Luck
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 9:14 p.m.
Great question. I have no idea--but virtually no other nation on the planet does it this way. Good Night and Good Luck
kms
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 8:33 p.m.
I wonder at what point historically that athletics became part of public education offerings...probably decades ago.
debling
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 5:06 p.m.
And there you have it. Cut other programs, not mine. A problem at the local level all the way up to the Federal government. Here is the easy solution. All programs not related to obtaining credits and a degree should be self funding. Period. You want you daughter to continue with dance, pay for it. Don't have the money? Wash cars, hold a bake sale, approach local businesses, etc. The same goes for all sports and activities at the public education system. Music, dance, art, theater, sports, clubs, etc. No public money should be used to fund these activities. Not one cent. Time to start cutting all funding to these so that we can start directing the funds to where they are needed. Education.
Ron Granger
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 4:28 p.m.
@tim: "Should third year french be cut -- how about drama - band - spanish - art- any non american history - on and on. Lets just go back to a one room school house with the three Rs. Your making a value judgement about sport/dance that you could make about a whole slue of activities." It really is a lot easier than you suggest. And there are a whole "slew" of activities that shouldn't be funded by taxpayers. First, absolutely no secret budgets. This secret sports budget situation is completely unacceptable. Second, if it isn't a class, or happens after core school hours, it's up for cutting as extracurricular. Third, there needs to be more (some?) public input into how these public funds are allocated for secret extracurricular activities. Merriam-webster definition of EXTRACURRICULAR: 1 : not falling within the scope of a regular curriculum; specifically : of or relating to officially or semiofficially approved and usually organized student activities (as athletics) connected with school and usually carrying no academic credit 2 a : lying outside one's regular duties or routine
Basic Bob
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 2:42 a.m.
The idea that every administrative decision requires public intervention by the school board is also ridiculous. The school board hires competent administrators, if they are second-guessed by the school board on every little decision they become unable to make decisions, useless, and powerless.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 5:56 p.m.
There is public input. It's called: the school board election. The idea that every decision made by the school board requires public ratification is ridiculous. Good Night and Good Luck
Galluper
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:29 p.m.
Before making school athletics funding cuts AAPS should first make cuts to Rec & Ed. In times of budget stress does AAPS really need to be supporting adult recreation? Adult kickball over high school sports?
Basic Bob
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:46 p.m.
Rec/ed pays its own way and even transfers money to the parks department and other facilities. Hard to see the harm in that.
dzucker
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2 p.m.
sounds like another self serving parent. delay the cuts one more.... after my daughter graduates..... after reading about this issue for a while now, I agree with the AD's. Cut all 9th grade sports and keep all Varsity and JV teams. I also think only MHSAA sponsored teams should be funded by the district. All other sports should be club sports. This issue is getting ridiculous. If the budget is that bad, make the cuts and people will just have to deal with it. And for folks who say the will leave the district...bye bye... go get a better education somewhere else if you can find it. didn't think so.
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 6:52 p.m.
Oh, come on, get a sense of humor, people.
scott
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:22 p.m.
I hate the attitude of "if you don't like it then leave" and so should others.....
Ron Granger
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 1:14 p.m.
So... How much are taxpayers paying to support this after school dance activity? Where can I find that info? Why isn't it readily available? Why should I pay for your kids' dance lessons? Why shouldn't parents entirely fund their kids after school activities? Maybe my kid wants to race bicycles. Why aren't the taxpayers paying for that? Or maybe he wants to windsurf? Where's the taxpayer handout? All of these activities should be clubs, and not funded by taxpayers. If you are concerned about losing funding, tell your kids they need to hold a bake sale, etc. The idea that they are entitled to have others pay their way is simply wrong.
eagleman
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 8:54 p.m.
Tim, you cannot compare Dance team to learning a foreign language. In a a globalized world such skills are imperative. Dance is merely a luxury.
tim
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 3:39 p.m.
Should third year french be cut -- how about drama - band - spanish - art- any non american history - on and on. Lets just go back to a one room school house with the three Rs. Your making a value judgement about sport/dance that you could make about a whole slue of activities. Personally I like all the stuff schools have to offer.
scott
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:21 p.m.
I disagree and am happy to pay for kids to do extracurriculars that aren't my own....
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 1:10 p.m.
I agree with the premise - that the cuts should be delayed - but not from a selfish point of view (they will affect my child even if delayed a year) but to give parents and booster clubs enough advance notice to convert the necessary sports to club status before their seasons start. Perhaps start with Winter and Spring sports this year and then throw in Fall next year.
braggslaw
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 11:40 a.m.
This post on its face appears to be very selfish. My daughter has been a team member for 3 years....fresh, soph, junior.. Don't cut funding for her senior year, because after that it doesn't matter because she graduated.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 11:07 a.m.
And this is why cutting the school budget is so difficult: every parent wants the cuts to come from somewhere that will not impact their very special child. It's also why meaningful school reform is near impossible: witness the parents whose opposition stopped the experimental extended school year as an effort to address the achievement gap. Good Night and Good Luck
Basic Bob
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:40 p.m.
I agree, for once. Achievement gaps can only be fixed when we stop redlining to maintain the interests of a certain class.