Board OK's donations to revive freshman sports

By Sara Brown, Town Correspondent

After nearly five hours of public comment and committee discussion, the Belmont School Committee Monday approved accepting private donations to fund athletics, including the recently cut freshman sports program.

The private funding proposal presented by parents raised a debate about the wisdom of paying for public school activities with private money and of saving freshman athletics at a time when academic programs are being cut in the cash-starved district.

Parent Karen Lilley said allowing the private support of athletics could provide an incentive to some citizens to contribute to town needs after the local electorate rejected an override of property tax limits that  would have supplied more revenue to the schools. 

"We want to give you money,'' said Lilley. "If you shut us down, I'll never vote for an override again."

But school officials, and some in the audience, voiced concerns about accepting private donations earmarked for a specific program and the feasibility of re-instituting the program by the time fall sports begin.

Superintendent George Entwistle pointed out that that school budget woes will mean cuts in a number of academic programs more important to students than freshman sports.

"Freshman sports, I think, is a high profile item," he said.  "I get it, I understand that.  But it is not a high priority item."

Anthony DiCologero, director of finance for the schools, said the school department stands to save about $45,000 by not offering sports for freshmen. 

To save the program, parents Leigh McLaughlin Lynch, John Stadler and Ellen Sullivan presented a proposal to the committee that would call for targeted donations to keep the program going. 

Massachusetts law allows for earmarked funding, Lynch told the School Committee, noting other "friends of''  and booster organizations that donate to schools.

  "The school department long ago crossed the bridge of accepting private, targeted funding," she said.

However, Entwistle and Committee Chair Ann Rittenburg said the district has other, higher priorities when it comes to programs that have been cut. 

Entwistle, speaking for the Leadership Council, said the proposal was not in the best interests of the school district, noting the school department has faced a host of tough cuts since the override failed, including laying off staff and cutting programs. 

He cited the lack of a curriculum director for science, social studies, and foreign languages.  "Not having those won't be as obvious as not seeing the freshman field hockey team on the field, but it's something happening to opportunity for every kid," he said. 

But Michael El-Hayek, a rising freshman and one of several students at the meeting, said he wanted the same experience his older brother had playing freshman sports.

"As a little brother, I get jealous all the time," he told the committee during one of his three turns at the mic.  "I want the same experience he had getting to play freshman sports." 

Others speakers said the freshman sports program was important to the health of the entire sports program, noting that the junior varsity and varsity teams would suffer if their "farm teams" were shut down. 

Others noted that a cash-strapped district shouldn't turn away money.

 "What is the harm that's going to come from this?" said Committee member Dan Scharfman.  "If voters see us turning away money freely offered, they're going to say that's not responsible."  His comment was followed be a large round of applause. 

On the other hand, some said the donations go against the idea of a public school system.

"The school system we have is incredibly well-run," said parent Amanda Green, expressing discomfort with a "bake-sale" mentality of funding and the School Committee being pressured.  If freshman sports are that important, she said, they should be "funded publicly as a community."

The committee's first vote resulted in a 3-3 tie, with Rittenburg saying she disagreed with the "myopic focus on freshman sports" and other saying that the freshman program isn't the ideal destination for $45,000. 

Eventually, the committee unanimously agreed to a proposal that said the school department would accept donated funds and user fees for the benefit of athletic programs for the 2010-2011 school year.  The middle school cross country and intramural programs, which were also cut due to budget woes, could receive some of the funding as well.

The committee also agreed to put $10,000 from the school department's revolving sports account's $75,193 balance balance toward getting the program rolling before donations come in.   The account is funded through gate receipts and user fees. 

Now, athletic director James Davis will try to re-institute a program was shut down, with coaches finding new jobs and competitors finding other teams to play. 

Davis said it might be too late for fall sports teams to play a complete schedule. 

After the meeting, with the clock approaching midnight, Lynch said that though the meeting was long, she and other supporters "got what we came for."  They will now start fund raising, she said.