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Monday, Aug. 04, 2008

BOOSTERS CLING TO SYSTEM: PARENTS, COACHES AFRAID OF LOSING QUALITY

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on Dec. 12, 2005.

Nothing scares parents and coaches more than changing the way money is raised for extracurricular activities or limiting what they can do.

They might not like raising money, but they like the quality of the programs they support. They see their children learning, acquiring skills and succeeding. They don't want to lose that, even if the system isn't fair to everyone.

During the Herald-Leader's investigation of booster groups at Fayette County's five public high schools, parents and coaches said they were afraid that talking about how they raised money would mean an end to booster clubs.

Others worried that if the amount of money they raised was known, they would get even less money from the school system, people would be even more reluctant to buy fund-raising items, or that another group would steal their fund-raising ideas.

But change might be coming.

In July, after the Herald-Leader began an investigation into the funding of high school sports and bands, Superintendent Stu Silberman and the school board created a task force to examine extracurricular activities.

It's an issue that the board has wanted to look at for years, said Kathy Lousignont, its chairwoman.

Silberman, who is concerned about the inequities created by the system, says he isn't sure how to make it more fair. Raising taxes isn't an option. Limiting booster clubs would discourage parent involvement.

But he doesn't like fund-raising either.

"Fund-raising in general is way out of hand," Silberman said. "Nobody likes it. Nobody likes to do it. But there's also some realities of being able to maintain a good program."

Fayette County provides less for extracurricular activities than other districts, but it might be the model that others eventually follow. Across the nation, public school districts are turning to fund-raising and participation fees to pay for programs.

Academics who study sports management and groups that work with athletic directors said that the best way to solve Fayette County's problems would be to dedicate more tax dollars to extracurricular activities.

If that's not possible, they said, Fayette County could address some of its problems by creating one central booster group at each school, formalizing any fee system and providing better oversight.

All were troubled when they heard how money was raised in Fayette County.

"Any time that you have a program, ostensibly sponsored by the school, governed in either a formal or a de facto way by a booster group that is raising money, the school has lost control," said Robert Cobb, who is dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine.

Taking control