 |
|
|
|
Mammoth Lakes, CA
|
Sunday, July 20, 2008
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Student pleas save soccer, golf and X-C skiing from high school budget cuts |
|
|
Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
School Board votes to remove sports scheduled cuts...for time being
By Stacey Powells
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 After an evening of heated protest and support for high school sports programs, the School Board voted to remove items D & I from budget cut consideration, which were the suspension of the golf, soccer and cross-country ski teams at MHS, and intramural travel at MMS, as well as the elimination of transportation for athletics.
A standing-room-only crowd at the Mammoth High School library overshadowed the update from architect Jordan Knighton of NDT Architecture on a revamped rendition of the new high school. On Monday, April 28, the mix of parents, students and administrators were anxious to find out whether or not the Mammoth Unified School District Board is going to make drastic cuts in the sports programs because of the financial fiasco perpetuated by the state of California. The sports in jeopardy are the high school soccer team, golf team and cross-country team.
Mammoth High School Soccer players Bailey Morely, Aracelli Escobar, Pita Vasquez, Kristin King, Rebecca Cage, Jose Toledo, Caesar Godinez, Christian Gramaldo, Eddie Diaz, Jorge Galvan, Joe Oriffio, Pedro Figuroa, Cassie Burgenbauch, Zach Burgenbauch, Emilio Flores and Juan Ferro filled the back of the library, all waiting their turn to express their concern regarding the cuts in the sports program.
MHS Student Ashley Castellanos was among the dozens of students attending the Board meeting because of the potential sports cuts. “We are all here because they said they are going to cut our funding for soccer,” Ashley said, prior to her turn to speak before the Board. “They want to make us a club soccer team which means we won’t get any sports credit. We are going to tell them we want to stay a school team and we can do fund-raisers and whatever it takes for it to stay with the school.”
“Whenever I have a bad day I always look forward to my soccer practice,” said Pita Vasquez. “The girls on my team are like my family. We made the CIF Finals last year and we played our best.”
“Soccer is the one place where I feel I can be whoever I want to be,” said Cassie Burgenbauch. “We keep our grades up because we want to play. It’s a way for us to keep healthy and stay away from drugs and alcohol and it’s the one sport where it doesn’t matter what we look like or where we come from. We're all the same.”
“I’ve been playing soccer since I was about 10 and this is my first year of high school soccer,” said MHS freshman Jorge Galvan. “I never knew what friendship was until I started playing high school soccer and on the team everyone looks out for each other. Soccer helps us keep our grades up and gives us something to study for and to try harder.”
Jim Stimson, father of Mammoth High School student Dayna Stimson, who was the state's cross-country skiing champion, said he wants to see both the cross-country skiing and soccer teams stay in the high school's lineup.
“I need to cut $350,000 from my budget,” said MUSD Superintendent Mike DeRisi. “Budget cuts are never easy and we’ve been looking at this for several months. The major cuts are not in the academic areas. After coaching sports for 23 years it wasn’t easy to look at sports to do the cuts. The sports on the block are the last two sports to be added on the program. They are also sports that don’t have home fields. I never had the intention of eliminating any sport. I needed to find cuts and I wanted to keep away from program, curriculum and staffing.Åh
DeRisi talked about discrimination and what led to the decision of the sports that are going to be cut. DeRisi said that it doesn’t matter who played the sports or what the gender, it was about the programs that are the newest. “Soccer can compete as district teams, but not as a club team,” DeRisi said. "The parents will have to pay the stipend to the coaches, but [the parents] won’t be able to pay the coach more than a district coach is getting paid. Soccer, golf and cross-country skiing are being asked to pay for the coaches. We are not saying to get rid of the sports but to suspend them until we get through this financial hardship.”
DeRisi said he was looking for an endorsement of the cuts from the board and wants to leave the School District in a financially strong place before he leaves.
Kathy Cage spoke on behalf of the recreation programs and is vehemently opposed to the cuts DeRisi is imposing. She asked the board to be accountable for what remains in the high school's sports programs. “Soccer is the sport they demand," said Cage. "Without high school soccer, where are the kids going to go?”
“I’ve been coaching the high school cross-country team for 15 years now,” said Nancy Fiddler, cross-country ski coach. “The winter soccer league did eat into the number of kids who did cross-country skiing, but we are going to get those numbers up. The girls' team reached the state championships and cross-country skiing is a lifetime sport that they will enjoy their whole lives. I hope you see the value of this sport.”
Some of the budget cuts proposed for the 2008-2009 school year included no salary increases, which has a potential savings of $60,000, the reduction of two full-time employees through retirements and reassignments, which would save approximately $100,000, the elimination of summer school for 2008, a savings of $50,000, and the elimination of high school and middle school busing, which would save approximately $30,500. The elimination of sports program cuts means the board still has to find other ways to meet the budget.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 09 May 2008 )
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2008 The Mammoth Times All Rights Reserved
|
|
