Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home School Board voted 7-1 Monday to hold sports fees constant at Sweet Home High School during the 2015-16 school year, recognizing that the school may have to seek additional funds from the district to cover possible increases in sports expenses.
High school officials had proposed increasing the fee by charging students for a third sport and increasing the family maximum for sports from $300 per year to $375. Right now, students pay for up to two sports and are not required to pay a fee for a third sport each year.
High School bookkeeper Peggy Emmert said in an email that the school has 155 students participating in a single sport, 117 in two sports and 39 in three sports. One family reached the family maximum of $300. That family has three children who play two sports each and participated in two sports free. Total, the proposal would raise an additional $3,000 in revenue.
The district spent $418,374 in 2014-15 on high school sports, according to information provided by Business Manager Kevin Strong. Of that total, $371,699 was provided by the district, $29,175 from student pay-to-play fees and $17,500 from admission fees.
The district’s portion pays coaching stipends, half of the athletic director position, the Athletic Department secretary, transportation and athletic expenses, Strong said.
Emmert said that the school paid $23,265 for officials and $3,278 for state contest lodging and meals, leaving little for uniform replacement and other equipment items.
Those funds are used to pay for larger maintenance expenses, such as refinishing the gym floor, goal posts, soccer goal nets, replacement of team uniforms and officials, which are expected to increase in cost by 3 percent next year.
Supt. Keith Winslow told the the board that the Oregon Student Activities Association is discussing requiring additional officials. Basketball games would have three instead of two.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen this year, but they’re certainly talking about it,” Winslow said.
For another $3,000, “I’m not sure if that’s worth raising it,” Winslow said. Raising prices on admissions and concessions, “it’s the same people, for the most part, that are paying for it.”
Chairman Mike Reynolds asked what would happen if the board did not allow the high school to raise the fees.
“Official costs continue to increase,” Strong said. “They’re concerned they’re not going to have enough. If they don’t figure out a way to raise the revenue, they’ll be coming back to the district.”
“We use sports for education, to keep kids involved,” said Chanz Keeney, board member. “It’s part of our community. As an example, look at what we’re doing at the track. I’ve got no problem with the district contributing more to pay for the jerseys and stuff like that to take the burden off the families.”
If the students are keeping their grades up and meeting the requirements, he doesn’t want the district to punish them for it, he said. “I don’t see people’s salaries going up.”
He suggested having it as part of the district’s budget discussions next spring.
“We’re talking about $30,000 here,” Keeney said. “We’re talking about spending that on an alarm system at one of our schools.”
Sweet Home has enough students where economics “may deter them from playing, and some kids, sports keeps them motivated to keep them in school,” said Jason Van Eck, board member.
“We never say a kid can’t play because he can’t pay,” Winslow noted. The district may work them in exchange, by having them run clocks and help out in various ways.
It’s other costs too, Keeney said. Cheer can cost more than $1,200.
“I’d like the children to have the best junior high-high school career they can have,” Keeney said.
“There’s a chance at the end of the year they could be asking for money,” Reynolds said. “That’s something you need to be aware of – before the next budget cycle.”
Voting not to increase sports fees next year were Reynolds, Keeney, Jason Redick, Van Eck, Carol Babcock and Nick Augsburger. Jenny Daniels voted no on the motion. Debra Brown, who was appointed to the board Monday night, was absent.
In other business, the board:
n Directed Winslow by a near consensus to begin developing a proposal for drug testing athletes.
Keeney discussed the idea with Winslow, said Winslow. He thought it was a good discussion idea and brought it to the board. Three other districts in the Sky-Em League are testing athletes, including Cottage Grove, Sutherlin and Junction City.
It’s something that could be worked into board policy and the code of conduct, Winslow said. It could be set for the ages the board chooses, and the board could test for specific drugs. It could test randomly or test on a random day or a random team.
“There’s a variety of ways that it can be done,” Winslow said.
Sutherline tested athletes 500 times last year, Winslow said. Of those, five tested positive. Of those, four never tested positive again, while the fifth quit sports.
The cost was $3.50 per test in Sutherlin.
“I think it’s a good discussion to have,” Winslow said. He asked whether he should work on something this year to implement next year or whether to try to develop it for this year.
“I think we need to let students know ahead of time, parents know ahead of time,” Winslow said.
“What is the goal here,” Babcock asked.
It’s a deterrent, Winslow said. It sends a message letting athletes know they may be tested.
“We’re not naïve enough to think none of our high school kids do drugs or smoke marijuana,” Winslow said. “We’re pretty well aware of that.”
Last year, the High School had two drug dogs in, Winslow said. “We went to many classrooms. We didn’t catch anyone.”
Students are getting smarter and not taking drugs to school, Winslow said. “That’s what we want.”
Babcock asked whether tests would look for alcohol or tobacco.
Tests can detect alcohol, Winslow said. “It would be a strange thing for an athlete to go out and practice, who had been drinking. That doesn’t generally happen. For an athlete to do that would be really, really strange.”
Babcock asked whether it would target only athletes.
Winslow said it could target anyone who is OSAA-sanctioned, the choir or band if they’re in a state comptetition.
“But not our clubs, no,” Winslow said. “That’s also up to the board.”
Babcock noted that while she worked for the district, transportation had random drug testing for employees, but it was a third party that administered the drug test, not a supervisor.
“Our coaches will not be testing them,” Winslow said. “It’ll be someone else on our staff.”
Keeney said he became interested after reading in the Albany Democrat-Herald that Lebanon School District was looking at it.
“I would hope it’s a deterrent,” Keeney said. “It’s like having an officer in school.”
And it’s no different from the workplace, Keeney said. “The other concern is the new marijuana laws that are going in. It’ll be more readily available now.”
This is a chance to get a jump on it, he said.
Clegg said her daughter, who was a cheerleader, went to a school that tested athletes for drugs. It was never a problem.
“It’s all in the way you go about it, the way you present it to the community,” Clegg said.
“Basically, we’re singling out athletes for these tests,” Babcock said.
Van Eck noted that playing sports is a privilege.
Yes, it is, Babcock said, and she asked whether it’s really helping with the drug problem by testing students who are least likely to use drugs.
Sweet Home Junior High School Vice Principal Josh Dargis said he supported doing it in junior high too. Keeney agreed, and except for Babcock, the board agreed.
Winslow will take the idea to administrators and begin developing a proposal for the board to consider.
N Agreed to increase the district’s contribution an additional $20 for health insurance premiums for certified staff members. The district had already agreed to pay an additional $20, but the teachers’ contract included a provision to reopen negotiations if insurance premiums increased by more than 7.5 percent.
Premiums are increasing by 8.1 percent for next school year.
The decision splits the entire premium increase, approximately $80, down the middle between the teachers and the district.
Strong said he met with the classified association president, who requested the same consideration, but the board took no action on classified insurance premiums.
Daniels suggested that the board should split the difference between 7.5 percent and 8.1 percent with the teachers because everything below that was already bargained.
Maintaining an insurance cap, the amount the district pays for health insurance premiums, below $1,000 is “like a slap in the face,” said Lisa Canfield, president of the teachers’ union. “When you look at how many teachers have left for whatever reason, we know as a staff, it’s financial. When you’re talking $120 (per year) per teacher, it’s hard to take.”
That makes it easier for teachers, who already live in other districts, which offer more compensation, to take jobs in those other districts, she said.
Strong said it would actually be $5.
Keeney said he’s “right there with you,” to Daniels. It’s just a little over the trigger for discussions, but the district is collecting more money than it has been.
“If they’re splitting the difference with us, I’d be for it,” Keeney said.
This discussion is a large part of the reason the teachers settled, Canaday said. “It was a big deal that you guys agreed to do that.”
The board voted 7-1 to increase the district’s contribution to insurance premiums an additional $20 to $1,000 per month, up from $960 in fiscal year 2014-15. Daniels voted no. Clegg, Van Eck, Keeney, Redick, Reynolds, Augsburger and Babcock voted yes.
Babcock said it was probably a big deal to the classified staff too, but the board split on a proposal to do the same thing.
Voting no were Reynolds, Redick, Daniels and Augsburger. Voting yes were Babcock, Keeney, Redick and Clegg.
The motion failed, leaving classified employees with the terms of their contract, $20 plus an additional $10 based on the percentage increase in the insurance rates.
“I’d say we already have a negotiated agreement with the classified,” Redick said. “We’re talking about throwing both groups together here. We have a re-opener with the certified. We have hammered-down numbers with the classified. We’ve already got an agreement with the classified.”
He understands that the classified want to be treated the same, Redick said, but the board is and would be held to the contract it has with the classified employees.
Reynolds agreed that the two groups should be handled separately.
The classified union agreed to specified amounts, he said, he is assuming because it wanted “hard numbers.”
Keeney said he has had a problem over the years treating different groups differently and would just as soon go with what was presented, giving a $20 increase to each group.
N Accepted a contract adjustment with the superintendent providing an additional week of vacation.
N Appointed Reynolds to a second year as chairman, Redick to a second year as vice chairman and Augsburger secretary.
N Swore in Babcock and Clegg, winners of a write-in campaign in May. Appointed Debra Brown as representative from Cascadia. She had been a write-in campaign winner too, but elections officials could not name her the winner because two other Debra Browns live in the district. The elections officials could not be certain which one voters supported.
She was the only applicant for the seat Monday evening.