- East Bay Prep Corner
Uproar over MDUSD decision to cut sports
By Ben Enos
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 7:25 pm in Uncategorized.
Parents with kids in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District opened their paper today to see a banner headline on the possibility of the district cutting funding to all sports.
To read Theresa Harrington’s story on the decision, click here.
Over the next few days, I’ll be talking to some people around the district and getting a sense of just how shocked they are at this decision. The MDUSD board of trustees is scheduled to discuss priorities on Saturday at 9 a.m. at the district offices in Concord.
I think it goes without saying that anyone posting on this blog would certainly not be in favor of something like this going down but it seems to be in step with a pattern developing (ie. the SRVUSD cutting stipends for coaches) across the East Bay. Thoughts, comments or concerns?
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]
March 11th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
What high schools are in that school district?
March 11th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Mt. Diablo, Concord, College Park, Ygnacio Valley, Clayton Valley and Northgate
March 11th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Time to start reworking the bylaws to allow a wider range of fundraising to take place and what it can then pay for. Otherwise teams will keep dropping like flies.
BSAL DC
March 12th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Cutting out sports is a strategy that virtually every school district has employed when funds are short. It gets publicity and raises awareness of the dire situation in our schools. It is one of the few things that a community will rally around. Cut out art, music, advisors, administrators, teachers or increase class size and there is barely a peep of protest.
It is a fact of life that with the current state of California’s budget and the economy, funding for everything but the most basic education will go out the window. If high school sports programs are to continue, it will fall on the parents. Most high school sports are already funded by booster programs already.
March 12th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Man it’s a cold world. I was watching the news last night looking at thousands of teachers getting pink slips. I hope something changes quick! Does anyone have Arnolds phone numeber I need to holler at him about this and also ask him where my refund money is at? Lol
March 12th, 2009 at 8:07 am
this clearly is a ploy by the administration to get a parcel tax passed. instead of cutting some administrators- they will go after the kids they know will fight to keep their sports. disgusting, unethical, and shameful move by this school district. THEY need to be cut…not the sports programs.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I agree
March 12th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Junior/ss396 you’re 100% correct. Straight punk s**t.
They target all these Sports, Classes, & extra curricular programs how come they never discuss how much fat there is at District Offices? Something there should go if they’re cutting teachers principals & everything else. But they won’t becasue the people deciding cuts are gonna take care of themselves first. They’re not going to cut themselves or cut people they work with. How bout the superintendent volunteer to work for half? Never happen. I’ll fire 2 teachers & cut music first. They make a lot of money down there. You cut 4 jobs out of distict you’re probably cutting 2 ro 3 hundred grand. I hope the parents target them as part of their solution. A lot of jobs at district are redundant. We’re in a crisis. Jobs need to be combined.
March 12th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Boo-hoo, woe is me, no HS sports, whatever shall we do?
Cut the admistration, yeah thats the ticket, those overpaid money grabbing PHD’s, who needs em.
No wait, lets cut the library, my kid don’t need no stinkin books when there are games to win and (fleeting) glory to be had on the gridiron, what the hell is the dewey decimal system anyway?
On the other hand, maybe those overpaid teachers are the real problem. They are costing our team some games, cause they are always flunking our best players meaning we don’t put our best on the field on Fridays. Lets cut some of them, whats the difference between 32 or 42 in a classroom anyway?
Or, lets get rid of those damn janitors, most of the ones I see around the grounds are usually just standing around anyway. After all, who needs bathrooms used by thousands cleaned every day after all? Once a week I say.
Hell no on the parcel tax. Not me, no way I would pay an extra $99 dollars a year, for what? More teachers, books, supplies, what a waste. No mention of any going to sports. Why throw good money after bad?
Easier just to go to DLS, best sports experience 12k a year can buy. Yeah, thats the ticket! We get to fly around the country, be on ESPN, have more coaches than players, new uniforms, those clever and highly informed national rankings, whats not to like? Wonder who we will play from California next season?
March 12th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
well Crymeriver- you got one thing right- those overpaid PHD’s MUST be cut and held accountable.
For years now they have mismanged our tax dollars and schools. They are POOR leaders. If they were held accountable, we wouldn’t be in this dire situation.
Nobody mentioned the librarians, janitors, or teachers. We want the leaders held responsible and don’t want to be taxed AGAIN for their incompetence.
Tell me something, if you gave some organization thousands of your hard earned money and they in turn FAILED at your investment, would you want to send them MORE money? That is what this tax is about- throwing more money down the toilet. There is no guarantee that the parcel tax will go exclusively to the after school programs anyway. (We have been fooled before: we were told the gas tax was ONLY going to infrastructure for calif roads, bridges, etc- surprise: the money went into the general fund. Or: the lottery money was ONLY going to the schools-fooled again)
It is sad to think you don’t understand the importance of after school programs- VERY sad. But that is beside the point. You need to wise up real quick and quit blindly following our school district leaders as they continue to disappoint our kids.
March 12th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Junior,
I got some beach property in Arizona you should look at….
You missed the point. I was being satirical, reread my first post again, slowly, and see if you can pick it up.
My kid plays two HS sports in this district, so we are not happy either. But, the fact is we as a community, state, and nation are up against it right now. Many people are suffering, no fault of their own, sacrifices much larger than the loss of HS sports are being asked of all of us.
My point is this, we can bitch and moan or we can accept reality and move forward. The reality is HS sports are a privledge, not a right bestowed upon us. At this time, for whatever reason you choose to find solace in, the reality is the state does not have the money to fund anything except the most basic of academic educations at the public level. Therefore, something has to give.
Your argument on adminstrators is a ruse and a false hope, but believe it if you so choose. The fact is this, California ranks 47th in the nation in school funding and is falling further behind each year (be conforted in the fact that there can only three more years to the bottom). No doubt, there is some waste, but as to your point about sending more money, the fact is we are sending them less money per student than we have in the past. But, I can tell you never let a fact stand in the way of your reasoning.
Finally, I do understand the importance of these programs, for most their biggest contribution, outside of conditioning, is learning to overcome adversity, to work as a team, and to build character. If you played HS sports, based on your musings above, it appears that you missed the point, yet again!
March 12th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
CryMeARiver- You have to be a Republican & you must have voted for Arnold because you seem real content with the situation. We’re 47th in the nation because of his lying ass! He’s made promises not to cut education anymore but he’s continued to do so over the last couple years.
I don’t know where this blog is going but I don’t agree at all with any educational cuts. The kids are our future & their education should be our number one priority. The teaching profession is pathetic. What they get paid is PATHETIC!! You want to talk about coaching is a labor of love TEACHING IS A LABOR OF LOVE & it shoudn’t be. It should be a more sought after profession in the same salary range as a Doctor or a Lawyer with the amount of education that you need. Plus they’re raising our kids.
As far as your opinions on what sports means thats probably in relation to where you live. Probably upscale uppermiddle class very little crime. If high school sports went out of the neighborhoods I lived in crime rate goes up, teen preganency foes up, & there would be a lot more gangs. This side of the hill would be killing fields. I bring that up because we’re probably next. But hey your with Arnold just build more prisons right. Its only costing us $50,000 to house each prisoner. Be proactive. Invest in kids now Arnold lovers. I graduated high school & probably stayed out of jail because of sports along with about 90% of the people I grew up with.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Roeper,
Wrong on the affiliation. I agree with your second paragraph. Could have left it there.
Good to know that Bristol Palin could have avoided being pregant if she would have only played basketball rather than running around in high class circles with her mother.
Are there any other societal problems that we can solved so easily with with HS sports?
March 12th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
A couple of years ago when the teachers in my son’s school district were fighting for more money, I lent my support then and intend to lend the same support to keep the high school sports. So, just because someone is angry about the sports being cut does not mean we don’t care about the teachers. I coulda swore that on Arnold’s way into the Governor’s mansion, he was promising us he would take care of the education, and it seem’s worse. I don’t want them to cut the school staff or any of the extra curricular activities. I think all of them are equally important to our youngsters. My nephew always played sports and second year in high school decided to take Forensics Debate. He was so busy and had such a sense of pride in his “team”, he stayed out of trouble and just recently graduated from college. We have to look at the bigger picture and see what’s really at stake. Our children’s fates are still in our hands. We may just have to buckle down and do even more fundraising. The only kids I really worry about are the kids who live in desperate situations who’s extra activities keep them out of trouble. What are they going do?
March 12th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
a ruse and false hope? you are an enabler. you believe spending more money per student equates to a better education… garbage! leadership counts more than dollars. the fact is- our school district leaders are letting our kids down.
this parcel tax is a money grab using sports as the “ruse”. read the article:
“Interim Superintendent Dick Nicoll said it is illegal to institute a “pay to play” policy, but he urged parents to support a $99 per parcel tax on the May 19 ballot, saying it would bring $7 million into the district that could help bring back sports, if the board makes that a priority.”
this meeting (attended by 200 parents- when was the last time 200 parents showed up for anything?), was to discuss the elimination of the hs sports programs… at an annual cost of $721,400.
things dont add up: the administrators you hold in high regard apparently had the same math teacher you did- whats with a $7mm tax when the sports program costs 721,000?
you might want to remove your head from the sand in that arizona property you own.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Hey Roeper I found your Republican on this board, check out Junior.
Junior, tell the truth, are you really George Bush, he..he.. Laura is going to get upset if she finds you up this late.
By the way does this mean you are interested in the Arizona beach property?
March 12th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
hey everyone i found the school district employee: crymeariver
typical response: if i can’t beat them with facts, redirect the conversation.
you go ahead and keep belivin’ in the system…they are doing a FANTASTIC job!
March 12th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Nope, just like Roeper, wrong again.
As long as we are redirecting, lets try this. Anyone for recalling Arnold? The Gray Davis thing worked out well didn’t it?
March 12th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
oh, sorry- for your sake i was hoping you where so you didnt sound so ignorant.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Apology accepted. Wait, did you just get me, with a redirection? You are so coy.
March 12th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
at least you are consistent.
too bad your head will never see the light of day.
March 12th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Junior, you win. This head fetish of yours is starting to freak me out.
March 12th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
there is still a slight bit of hope for you
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:43 am
I cannot stress enough how catastrophic this will be to our community, not just for parents with kids, but everybody.
We already are facing an obesity epidemic among our youth in this country, taking sports away will only add to this epidemic leading to a nation of overweight people adding to even higher medical costs and a deterioration of our society as we know it.
Sports are usually our children first exposure to fitness and if they’re never exposed, then it’s not a habit built into their lives.
Also sports give our children hope for the future, especially those who don’t have the luxury of money for college, it makes them our future leaders and builds self esteem.(Where would the Lebron James, william sisters and doctors,buisness owners,engineers etc… of the world be today without sports!)
If that’s not enough, then think about thousands of kids with nothing to do after school, you think this wont have an impact on crime rates and drug use, then you need to seriously consider these consequences.
Sports and exercise have a big impact on the development of our children Central nervous system, which is responsible not just for movement adequacy but also for neural development.Yes studies show kids who exercise get better grades in school and are much more motivated and have higher self esteem.
Sports and fitness are not a luxury as leaders of our states and country seem to think, it plays an integral part in our children futures and the future stability of our country.
March 28th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I have a fund raiser that can solve most of this went to Dist. Supr. he told me he would share it! No one has contacted me, this is super simple system. No out of pocket expense, it is shipped direct, company takes care of billing, shipping, school gets check every month product is shipped no limit on how much it will raise as long as it is for non profit org. (ie. schools, churchs, softball, football, basketball…) boreshajim@sbcglobal.net
May 7th, 2009 at 8:26 am
so many students come to school and do their best to learn what they have been set to learn. at the end of the day those students hope to still have that one game to play. Getting rid of sports is like telling those studentsthat they dont care about what they feel. this is going to result in so many students dropping out of school because its like the one thing they long to do at the end of the day has been stripped away and they cant get it back.
yes i know that you can pay to get into sports, but some of us dont have that option and are forced to just sit on the sidelines. i know this because i AM one of those stidents that long for that one night of glory or that one night of fame at the end of the day. sports improved my life, sports made me into a team player and sports made me into the star stuudent i am today. so taking our sports away is like putting us in prison because their is nothing else we can do to make our lives alittle bit better!!!!!