Teams survived, Pride intact
Winthrop offers hope to Stoneham, others in fiscal squeeze
The budget crunch. The endless meetings. The threats to cut all sports at the high school.
Athletes in their varsity jackets, pleading with town officials. The parents standing beside them. The coaches standing beside them.
What Stoneham High School is now facing -- struggling to find money to fund its athletic program -- Winthrop High faced just three short years ago.
So when Winthrop's athletic director, James Coffey, saw all the newspaper stories, read all the emotion-charged columns, and listened to the voices of all the athletes, parents, and coaches in Stoneham, he flashed back to what he calls a "dark time" for his school's sports program.
"We were the guinea pigs," said Coffey, who noted that he has recently fielded phone calls from upset Stoneham parents and coaches. "We were the first ones to be in that situation."
He said he has been attempting to calm their fears.
Even with the loss of public funding, there was never any doubt in his mind that the Vikings would still take the field. Within two weeks of Winthrop voters rejecting a property tax increase for the schools in 2004, supporters created the Vikings Pride Foundation to help raise money for the high school's extracurricular programs. The foundation raised the needed funds for that year's budget and then kept it going, Coffey said.
Stoneham has passed a $200-per-household trash fee that will generate $1.3 million in revenue for the town, and a portion of the money was earmarked for education, including high school sports.
Stoneham's athletic budget is $600,000. Winthrop's was $250,000.
Boosters and alumni in Stoneham have stepped forward. But the fall sports season is less than two months away, and time is of the essence, they say.
Stoneham is "starting to scramble now to see what they can do," Coffey said.
"I think they're in a tough spot just like we were, but I think that if they want to do it, they could."
Winthrop survived, with the Vikings Pride Foundation providing enough money to keep the school's user fee for sports around $200. Winthrop's user fee will jump to $250 per sport this fall.
User fees have become common among area school districts, with cuts in public funding forcing educators to make extracurricular activities more self sustaining.
Georgetown High School recently made its sports program completely funded by user fees; athletic director Guy Prescott said the school risks losing sports if athletes aren't willing to pay higher fees.
"It's like a powder keg," he said of the user-fee issue.
The revenue from fees is viewed as a godsend when it saves athletic programs and extracurricular activities, but fees can cause problems too. Families paying a big chunk for their son or daughter to play a sport may assume their money equals playing time for their child.
"It's always on the tip of everybody's tongue," said Prescott. "Everybody's thinking," looking for alternatives to user fees, he said. "We're trying to figure it out. But we can't."
Triton Regional High School was on the brink of eliminating its sports program before drafting plans last year for user fees as high as $1,350 for ice hockey, and $985 for football; fund-raising by local residents and a property tax increase approved by Triton's member communities -- Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury -- has allowed its sports fee to be capped at $250 this season.
Hamilton-Wenham Regional threatened to cut field hockey and wrestling because of budget constraints.
Beverly High School first imposed a user fee of $150 several years ago; it was raised to $160 per sport in the 2005-2006 school year, and was upped again last year to $185.
But even with the increase, Beverly athletic director Jon Longley said, his department budgets its money carefully. The bulk of the user fees goes toward paying coaches. Gate receipts cover items like uniforms and equipment, based on a four-year cycle set up by Longley.
"The confusion lies when people think the wealthier the town, the more the schools have for money, and that's not true," Longley said.
"Often times there's less of a tax base there, as far as commercial and things like that. So even though the town's wealthy, it doesn't mean that the school's wealthy."
In most communities, the high school sports teams are part of the local identity. Cuts in sports programs, or sharply increased fees, may spur athletes and families that are part of the community's fabric to move away or switch to private schools.
"I think it's a huge deal," Coffey said of the move to reduce sports programs, as Stoneham was considering.
"I think what's going to happen is they're going to end up losing their best and brightest students. Not only does that hurt that school district, it hurts the town in general."
Still, Coffey said, when budgets get tight and the options are sports or academics, sports will always lose.
"I think it's very difficult for school districts to say, 'OK, we're going to cut our algebra program, but we're going to keep our football team. When you pit academics against athletics, academics is going to win every time."
This spring capped the fourth school year that Winthrop played sports with no funding from the town, and it was one of the best years in the annals of Winthrop High athletics.
The Viking football team won the Division 2A Super Bowl to complete an undefeated season, and the high school girls' basketball team ran the table during the regular season before finishing 21-1 overall.
"I guess we're living proof" that sports programs can survive without the support of tax dollars, said Coffey. "It's possible but it's not easy. It's not something you want to do." 