Thursday, April 26, 2007
Activities a bargain for school
By Jerry Ness | The Daily Journal
Published Wednesday, March 21, 2007
As the May 8 date for District 544's bond referendum approaches, I'll take advantage of every opportunity to talk about the referendum with district residents, both in print and through community presentations. This column gives me the chance to expand on the answers to some of the questions I hear during those presentations - questions that might be on the minds of other people, as well.
"Why don't we just cut student activities to save money?" This question was asked last week after I outlined the cost savings that would result from the referendum. Cutting activities would be a major mistake for two reasons. The first reason is based on the decades of research cited by the Minnesota State High School League, which oversees the interscholastic athletic and fine arts programs for more than 200,000 students in the state.
That research shows that students who participate in high school activities tend to have:
* higher grade-point averages
* better attendance records
* lower dropout rates
* fewer discipline problems than non-participating students.
National studies repeatedly report that high school activities:
* build character
* increase self-confidence
* relieve tension
* support classroom learning by generating school pride, a sense of community, and by nurturing a feeling of belonging that makes students want to achieve.
These studies also show that students who participate in athletic and fine arts programs are more likely to:
* graduate from high school
* stay off drugs
* attend college
* avoid unwanted pregnancies.
A Minnesota study of more than 300 schools showed:
* The average student had a grade-point average of 2.68 (on a 4.0 scale), but the grade-point average of student athletes was 2.84 and 2.98 for students involved in the fine arts (speech, drama, music and debate).
* The average student was absent 8.76 days a year - Athletes were absent 7.44 days. - Fine arts participants were absent only 6.94 days.
Second, I believe cutting activities actually would hurt the district's finances. The total cost of all FF athletic activities is $461,109, or 2 percent of the general budget. After you subtract total revenue of $179,926 generated from admissions and fees, the net cost to the district is $261,183, which is less than 2 percent.
So how would cutting activities negatively affect the budget?
Here is where open enrollment has an impact. Each high school student enrolled in our district generates revenue of $7,896 each year.
As an example, the total cost of our football program is $46,879, including coach's salaries, transportation and supplies. If you divided the cost by the per pupil revenue, you get 5.94 students.
In other words, it only takes six students to generate the revenue needed to fund the total football program. So if we cut football and six students left our district to play at another school, we would lose enough funding to cover all the costs for the program.
The following list is of the activities, their cost and the number of students needed to generate the revenue necessary to fund the program.
High school
Alpine skiing: $868 program cost, - 0.11 pupils needed to fund the program
Nordic skiing: $445 - 0.06 pupils needed to fund the program
Boys athletics
Baseball: $21,692 - 2.75 pupils needed to fund the program
Basketball: $31,204 - 3.95 pupils needed to fund the program
Cross country: $8,663 - 1.10 pupils needed to fund the program
Golf: $8,449 - 1.07 pupils needed to fund the program
Hockey: $29,709 - 3.76 pupils needed to fund the program
Soccer: $17,969 - 2.28 pupils needed to fund the program
Swimming: $23,030 - 2.92 pupils needed to fund the program
Tennis: $12,181 - 1.54 pupils needed to fund the program
Track: $14,355 - 1.82 pupils needed to fund the program
Wrestling: $20,020 - 2.54 pupils needed to fund the program
Girls athletics
Basketball: $30,237 - 3.83 pupils needed to fund the program
Cross country: $4,380 - 0.55 pupils needed to fund the program
Golf: $8,488 - 1.07 pupils needed to fund the program
Gymnastics: $12,577 - 1.59 pupils needed to fund the program
Hockey: $24,378 - 3.09 pupils needed to fund the program
Soccer: $17,059 - 2.16 pupils needed to fund the program
Softball: $22,561 -- 2.61 pupils needed to fund the program
Swimming: $22,930 - 2.90 pupils needed to fund the program
Tennis: $9,679 - 1.23 pupils needed to fund the program
Track: $13,037, - 1.65 pupils needed to fund the program
Volleyball: $21,180 - 2.68 pupils needed to fund the program
The total program cost for middle school basketball, football, golf, tennis, track, volleyball and wrestling for both boys and girls is $39,136.
The revenue generated by 4.95 students would fund all of these programs.
Student activities are a great bargain and help students focus on a positive and healthy activity.
Published Wednesday, March 21, 2007
As the May 8 date for District 544's bond referendum approaches, I'll take advantage of every opportunity to talk about the referendum with district residents, both in print and through community presentations. This column gives me the chance to expand on the answers to some of the questions I hear during those presentations - questions that might be on the minds of other people, as well.
"Why don't we just cut student activities to save money?" This question was asked last week after I outlined the cost savings that would result from the referendum. Cutting activities would be a major mistake for two reasons. The first reason is based on the decades of research cited by the Minnesota State High School League, which oversees the interscholastic athletic and fine arts programs for more than 200,000 students in the state.
That research shows that students who participate in high school activities tend to have:
* higher grade-point averages
* better attendance records
* lower dropout rates
* fewer discipline problems than non-participating students.
National studies repeatedly report that high school activities:
* build character
* increase self-confidence
* relieve tension
* support classroom learning by generating school pride, a sense of community, and by nurturing a feeling of belonging that makes students want to achieve.
These studies also show that students who participate in athletic and fine arts programs are more likely to:
* graduate from high school
* stay off drugs
* attend college
* avoid unwanted pregnancies.
A Minnesota study of more than 300 schools showed:
* The average student had a grade-point average of 2.68 (on a 4.0 scale), but the grade-point average of student athletes was 2.84 and 2.98 for students involved in the fine arts (speech, drama, music and debate).
* The average student was absent 8.76 days a year - Athletes were absent 7.44 days. - Fine arts participants were absent only 6.94 days.
Second, I believe cutting activities actually would hurt the district's finances. The total cost of all FF athletic activities is $461,109, or 2 percent of the general budget. After you subtract total revenue of $179,926 generated from admissions and fees, the net cost to the district is $261,183, which is less than 2 percent.
So how would cutting activities negatively affect the budget?
Here is where open enrollment has an impact. Each high school student enrolled in our district generates revenue of $7,896 each year.
As an example, the total cost of our football program is $46,879, including coach's salaries, transportation and supplies. If you divided the cost by the per pupil revenue, you get 5.94 students.
In other words, it only takes six students to generate the revenue needed to fund the total football program. So if we cut football and six students left our district to play at another school, we would lose enough funding to cover all the costs for the program.
The following list is of the activities, their cost and the number of students needed to generate the revenue necessary to fund the program.
High school
Alpine skiing: $868 program cost, - 0.11 pupils needed to fund the program
Nordic skiing: $445 - 0.06 pupils needed to fund the program
Boys athletics
Baseball: $21,692 - 2.75 pupils needed to fund the program
Basketball: $31,204 - 3.95 pupils needed to fund the program
Cross country: $8,663 - 1.10 pupils needed to fund the program
Golf: $8,449 - 1.07 pupils needed to fund the program
Hockey: $29,709 - 3.76 pupils needed to fund the program
Soccer: $17,969 - 2.28 pupils needed to fund the program
Swimming: $23,030 - 2.92 pupils needed to fund the program
Tennis: $12,181 - 1.54 pupils needed to fund the program
Track: $14,355 - 1.82 pupils needed to fund the program
Wrestling: $20,020 - 2.54 pupils needed to fund the program
Girls athletics
Basketball: $30,237 - 3.83 pupils needed to fund the program
Cross country: $4,380 - 0.55 pupils needed to fund the program
Golf: $8,488 - 1.07 pupils needed to fund the program
Gymnastics: $12,577 - 1.59 pupils needed to fund the program
Hockey: $24,378 - 3.09 pupils needed to fund the program
Soccer: $17,059 - 2.16 pupils needed to fund the program
Softball: $22,561 -- 2.61 pupils needed to fund the program
Swimming: $22,930 - 2.90 pupils needed to fund the program
Tennis: $9,679 - 1.23 pupils needed to fund the program
Track: $13,037, - 1.65 pupils needed to fund the program
Volleyball: $21,180 - 2.68 pupils needed to fund the program
The total program cost for middle school basketball, football, golf, tennis, track, volleyball and wrestling for both boys and girls is $39,136.
The revenue generated by 4.95 students would fund all of these programs.
Student activities are a great bargain and help students focus on a positive and healthy activity.
# posted by Viking Warrior @ 10:06 AM 
