Parents Offer Help to Maintain Clarkstown School Sports Programs

A group of parents of Clarkstown school district student athletes told the school board Tuesday that they are ready to help begin the process of trying to restore high school and middle school sports programs cut in the 2010-2011 budget.

At a workshop session between the school board and school administrators, the district reviewed its plans for the start of the new academic year with a sports program that has fewer teams and fewer coaches as a result of about $600,000 in cuts over last year's sports budget. School board members said the session was designed as an update on the process that began in the spring when the cuts were proposed as part of a districtwide effort to keep the tax rate hike to about 2 percent.

About 65 parents and supporters of Clarkstown scholastic sports programs attended the 5:30 p.m. workshop session in New City, most of them urging the school board to look for ways of restoring sports programs cut at the district's two high schools and its middle school. However, school board members quickly made it clear they were not planning to make changes in the budget plan.

"I don't want to cut sports, no one on this board wanted to cut sports, but I don't want to put 30 kids in a classroom," said board President Phillip DeGaetano. "You're kids' education comes first. If there is money next year, we will look at putting it back."

However, DeGaetano warned parents that the cuts made in the school budget for the upcoming year were made in anticipation of the district's financial condition getting worse – not better – with less state and federal education aid projected.

As part of the budget plan overwhelmingly approved by voters in May, Clarkstown has reduced its coaching staff and eliminated separate freshman sports programs at Clarkstown North and Clarkstown South high schools. Additionally, interscholastic sports teams have been combined at Felix Festa Middle School so that sports that have long had two teams – such as football – will now have one team.

Varsity and junior varsity teams were not cut, but the district is reducing the number of assistant coaches its employs. Overall, Clarkstown has gone from 109 high school sports teams to 102 teams. At the middle school, there will still be 136 sports teams, but the number of interscholastic teams has been cut in half to 18, with the district creating a new level of club teams that will play within the district.

Some of the changes also reflect declining participation by students in some areas.

Schools Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said the district is saving on transportation costs in the revised sports program, and is saving on salaries as well. At the middle school, Keller-Cogan noted that by with the club teams the district will be paying coaches at a lower rate than coaches for interscholastic teams.

With the changes, there will be about 128 fewer spots for high school players on sports teams, going down from 2,403 to 2,275. At the middle school, the district last year had about 1,000 students on its school teams. In the coming season, about 500 will able to play on the new modified school team structure, with another 500 able to play in the new club sport structure.

Christopher Serra, who oversees the school district's physical education and athletic programs, said the number of student athletes on particular teams throughout the district will be limited because of the smaller coaching staffs.

Serra told school board members the district will be able to safely operate its scholastic sports programs. However, Serra said athletic officials throughout the district will be looking at the new structure during the year to gauge how well it is working.

"We will make it work," Serra said. "If it doesn't work, we will refine it and make it work."

Some parents at Tuesday's workshop session said they were surprised to recently learn about the cuts in the sports programs. However, Keller-Cogan said the structure reviewed Tuesday was the same as the structure presented to the public during 30 community and school meetings held in the spring in the budget review process – including two sessions at each of the district's schools.

School board members said that during the budget process, they did not hear objections from the community to the proposed sports cuts, which were part an overall effort to reduce spending plans by about $4 million in the district to keep taxes down.

Some parents at Tuesday's session admitted they did not attend any of the budget review sessions and did not keep track of the process. However, school board members said they do believe some parents may have expected the cuts in sports would not really happen in a district that traditionally has not experienced such cutbacks.

"This is only the beginning," said school board member Donna Ehrenberg. "There will be more meetings like this with people affected by cuts throughout the district."

Ehrenberg said that as students and parents see school schedules and reduced program availabilities, she expects to hear from parents about cuts in those academic areas.

During discussions at the workshop session Tuesday, parents said they have begun private fundraising efforts in hopes of helping to restore some specific teams, such as freshman basketball. Additionally, parents expressed willingness to serve as volunteer assistant coaches to help support the district's reduced coaching staff.

School officials said the district is currently organizing coaches for the new school year, and looking at the possibility of some assistant coaches returning as volunteers.

One area of special attention brought up by swimming team parents is the need for a specific coach for students involved in diving events.

School board members said Tuesday they are open to some of the suggestions raised by parents. However, they also warned that there a limitations. The school district's attorney, Warren Berbit, explained that the district cannot become directly involved in private fundraising efforts to restore specific sports teams.

Berbit said the school board can accept private donations to support programs, but the district still must meet overall legal requirements. For example, Berbit warned that if there is a fundraising effort to restore freshman basketball, that effort would have to include a boys team and a girls team.

The price tag for a school basketball team: About $7,600 per team, according to the school district.

Parents at the workshop expressed concern the sports cuts would unfairly limit opportunities for students who want to participate in scholastic sports, especially at the middle school. Felix Festa Middle School Campus Principal Dianne Basso said the plan for the new club sports program calls for providing students on those teams training and games just like the interscholastic teams, with the exception that the club teams will not travel to other schools for games.

Keller-Cogan said she was pleased that parents want to help and are continuing their support of school sports programs. The school board was not planning on meeting with school administrators about sports programs until mid-August, but board member Kevin Grogan called for Tuesday's workshop session in response to public concerns over sports.

Ehrenberg said the session helped clarify for parents what they would need to do to help the district with sports programs.