Warren Local BOE considering pay to play

[mister b]

Last nights BOE meeting included an indepth discussion on pay to play at Warren.

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/conte ... l?nav=5002

Good story on the cost of what a school has just for coaches salaries.

With a new governor taking office, Ohio BOEs are trying to get ready for major funding cuts that will take place next year. Other schools may very well be forced to do the same. One has to wonder what the transportation cost is for Warren. This wasn't discussed but is a hidden cost that few people take into account for school athletics.

[NYBuckeye96]

It's sad when it comes down to this. This is probably one of the reasons Warren wants back in the TVC - travel expenses to the SEOAL schools. With Marietta leaving the SEOAL, Warren is kind of out there by itself with no close geographic league rival. Logan, Gallia Academy, Jackson, Chillicothe and Portsmouth are all long drives for league games. Travel expenses can eat up an athletic budget that is already tight.

[pappy1]

I had never read, heard or considered the financial effect of a school doing away with athletics and losing students via transfer. The mentioned school (in the news article) lost over three quarters of a million dollars from the state and got only a small portion of it back when they reinstated athletics. It gives me greater appreciation for the difficult decisions these adminstrators make. It also makes some of us 'know it alls' on forums such as this, look foolish with our limited knowledge of how the system works.

[coal miner's son]

It's here, and it's for real. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I predict a lot of changes throughout Washington County. This governor sees a lot of wasted revenue in county containing six school districts, six BOE's, and six superintendents. I can't say that I don't disagree.

[Steely Dan]

It's here, and it's for real. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I predict a lot of changes throughout Washington County. This governor sees a lot of wasted revenue in county containing six school districts, six BOE's, and six superintendents. I can't say that I don't disagree.

You are absolutely on to something, CMS. It is going to be very interesting to see how this plays out, especially in terms of the amount of "administration" required to run an entire county's school districts. There will be impact to the teachers as well, just wait and see.

The realities of the world, our economy, and the private sector are quickly encroaching on the sacred ground known as "public education".

What we have is not sustainable, period. The number of teachers, yes, the number of schools, probably not, and the number of administrators, well, guess what, ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Tough decisions are coming, and they are going to have to center around one thing, and that is..........WHAT IS BEST FOR OUR KIDS??!?!?!?!?!

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Did I read this right $180,000 in salaries for supplemental coaching contracts each year? Is it just me or does that number seems high. Well at least I thought it was till I started doing a little math, but I guess with the amount of varsity sports Warren offers it really isn’t out of sight when you consider coaching from the junior high leave up. I imagine the primary sport coaches make a respectable amount and they should for the amount of time put into these jobs, but I wonder how much is spent on assistant coaches, and head coaches for non major sports. Maybe see about getting volunteer assistants before going pay to play. Really think pay to play would kill just about any school in the southeast districts athletic program. People down here just don’t have the extra cash to shell out. Many families have multiple athletes participating in multiple sports. This could put a major strain on a family. I think if this happens you will see many athletes leave the district. Hope the Warriors can find a way to avoid this, maybe the boosters could step in and try some new fundraisers to help keep this from happening.

[mister b]

It's here, and it's for real. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I predict a lot of changes throughout Washington County. This governor sees a lot of wasted revenue in county containing six school districts, six BOE's, and six superintendents. I can't say that I don't disagree.

While I do think that the new governor is going to force consolidation on SE Ohio schools first, one only has to look across the river into WV and look at their county system. They may have 1 super and 1 treasurer, but the number of asst supers are unbelieveable and their administrator to pupil ratio isn't any lower than what Washington County schools currently have.

You may save the salary of combining 6 supers into 1 but there will be at least 1 asst super, 1 transportation super, 1 maintence super, 1 super of technology etc. The savings would be ate up very quickly if Washington County went to a county school system.

[mister b]

Did I read this right $180,000 in salaries for supplemental coaching contracts each year? Is it just me or does that number seems high. Well at least I thought it was till I started doing a little math, but I guess with the amount of varsity sports Warren offers it really isn’t out of sight when you consider coaching from the junior high leave up. I imagine the primary sport coaches make a respectable amount and they should for the amount of time put into these jobs, but I wonder how much is spent on assistant coaches, and head coaches for non major sports. Maybe see about getting volunteer assistants before going pay to play. Really think pay to play would kill just about any school in the southeast districts athletic program. People down here just don’t have the extra cash to shell out. Many families have multiple athletes participating in multiple sports. This could put a major strain on a family. I think if this happens you will see many athletes leave the district. Hope the Warriors can find a way to avoid this, maybe the boosters could step in and try some new fundraisers to help keep this from happening.

Actually, given Warren's size, the number of sports they offer and fielding teams from 7th garde up, the $180,000 spent on coaching salaries alone is fairly low.

The story mentions nothing of the cost of transportation for the teams. Most school districts bill the athletic department for this cost which comes from gate receipts. There is no mention of equipment costs or uniform replacements. Buying new uniforms for just HS football can easily run over $10,000 and football helmets have to be reconditioned every year and are usually replaced after 3 reconditionings due to insurance liability.

The $180,000 isn't a true account of what it cost to play sports at Warren, that is just the coaches salary and insurance but I give the folks at Warren all the credit in the world of presenting this for discussion as they may have talked about the other costs but it wasn't reported in the newspaper.

[Orange and Brown]

Come to the TVC, That will help with shorter bus trips!

[bigbluedad]

I agree with going to the TVC(should have never left)shorter trips would help.The Boosters are already helping pay for uniforms for the boys from what I've been told and as far as pay for coaches I know that it's probably going to take a hit as well.The article even talks about the band and choir possibly going to pay to play, well the band receives no money from the school at all it is completely funded by the boosters that's paying for buses, the drivers, fuel and so on and I believe the choir boosters are in the same boat, if we go down this road I'm afraid what will happen in the end.

[JoeRoberts]

According to Warren's website, there is some discrepancy between this article and the Warren BOE's own information.

http://www.warrenlocal.k12.oh.us/bond_i ... ummary.pdf

coaching supplemental contracts amount to $91.825.00, not the $180,000 mentioned in the article.

"I imagine the primary sport coaches make a respectable amount and they should for the amount of time put into these jobs, but I wonder how much is spent on assistant coaches, and head coaches for non major sports."

Just what do you consider "primary sport coaches" and "non-major sports"? The "non major" coaches put just as much time into their sport as the other coaches, and typically do so with less support and no assistants, so they have to EVERYTHING. There is this perception that unless you coach a certain 1 or 2 sports, all you do is show up 5 minutes before practice, take attendance, and then sit around drink a pepsi for 2 hours and then go home and collect your pay check. I can tell you for a fact that the coach of my son's team spends about 6-7 hours a day on his team, in addition to his full-time job and family. Would you consider a non-major sport one that wins their league every year??? That goes to the state and regional championships every year? That carries a 3.5 GPA as a team?

I think we need to be careful in characterizing sports as "primary" and "non-major". There are many misconceptions on what certain sports bring in as far as money, and some that are thought of a big money makers barely break even, and some that are seen as big money losers and "non major" actually break even or pay their own way.

[NYBuckeye96]

I agree with going to the TVC(should have never left)shorter trips would help.The Boosters are already helping pay for uniforms for the boys from what I've been told and as far as pay for coaches I know that it's probably going to take a hit as well.The article even talks about the band and choir possibly going to pay to play, well the band receives no money from the school at all it is completely funded by the boosters that's paying for buses, the drivers, fuel and so on and I believe the choir boosters are in the same boat, if we go down this road I'm afraid what will happen in the end.

bigbluedad, the parents/fans I know from Warren all seem to want back in the TVC. As someone from Warren, do you think there is a consensus among the Warren community that the TVC is a better fit for Warren?

[dazed&confused]

Two words- Title Nine. I'm all for equal opportunities when those opportunities can pay for themselves. This manifests itself at the college level even more. Some high schools can't self-support football, the revenue sport. Time for intramural and club sports again. Sorry, the truth hurts!

[Chieftain]

Maybe that reality is a little harsher. Too many schools. Consolidation is coming and its not a bad thing. Small schools also offer a limited curriculum--not good. With sparse populations, I can see many counties going to one or two school systems ( or H.S.s). The coaching salaries are actually quite small in the total school budget which are millions of $$$$$$$$ in size. Too many administrators who are badly over paid is correct.

[coal miner's son]

WAAAAAY too many administrators!!!

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Just what do you consider "primary sport coaches" and "non-major sports"? The "non major" coaches put just as much time into their sport as the other coaches, and typically do so with less support and no assistants, so they have to EVERYTHING. There is this perception that unless you coach a certain 1 or 2 sports, all you do is show up 5 minutes before practice, take attendance, and then sit around drink a pepsi for 2 hours and then go home and collect your pay check. I can tell you for a fact that the coach of my son's team spends about 6-7 hours a day on his team, in addition to his full-time job and family. Would you consider a non-major sport one that wins their league every year??? That goes to the state and regional championships every year? That carries a 3.5 GPA as a team?

Ok, I didn't mean to upset you by that comment, but if you think the same time is put in for all sports you are out of your mind. Because this is the football forum, let’s use it as the example, normal practice, film sessions, preparation of scouting reports, breaking down of tendencies, and offseason training. Really how many sports put in the time it takes to coach football? Football starts in July, and ends the last of October if you don’t make playoffs, and then there is plenty of offseason things that football coaches do that most others don’t.

We all know what primary sports are, and each school may have a little different view on it. The sports that first make the money, and bring the fans out. More pressure is on these coaches to win, because these are the sports that bring out the fans, and bring in money. It's great for any team to win, but we all know that a championship football, or basketball team garners far more attention than any other sports do. Is this fair, probably not but it's the truth, and we all know that the coaches of the primary sports, are put on the hot seat a lot quicker for losing then that of other sports.

I have played both primary and other sports while in school, and have since served as coach for a non primary sport. I know the time and commitment for it is not the same as some of the other sports, and I was compensated less because of it. It's only fair.

[bigbluedad]

I agree with going to the TVC(should have never left)shorter trips would help.The Boosters are already helping pay for uniforms for the boys from what I've been told and as far as pay for coaches I know that it's probably going to take a hit as well.The article even talks about the band and choir possibly going to pay to play, well the band receives no money from the school at all it is completely funded by the boosters that's paying for buses, the drivers, fuel and so on and I believe the choir boosters are in the same boat, if we go down this road I'm afraid what will happen in the end.

bigbluedad, the parents/fans I know from Warren all seem to want back in the TVC. As someone from Warren, do you think there is a consensus among the Warren community that the TVC is a better fit for Warren?

Yes I do think that most of us who live and have kids in Warren schools believe that we should go back to the TVC as it would benefit us more as far as the overall picture goes, as I said before Warren should have never left the league IMO. I think that as far as travel it's a better fit in these times and I do believe that the TVC is getting better with the teams that now make up the league, if they would make up the third division(large school) I think things would work out great for everyone.

[noreply66]

[quote="coal miner's son"]WAAAAAY too many administrators!!![/quote

too many people wanting the big paychesck after retirement

[maniac66]

the shame is so many new schools have been built.
In southeastern ohio alot of schools here in lawrence could be looking at consolidation and you talk about a uproar we would have one.
But you have to wonder what would be best over all for the children and what the benefits would.

[coal miner's son]

Good point maniac. All of those new building and then, wham, consolidate with a neighboring district. Some new building could go to waste. Hopefully, all new building would be utilized.

In Washington Co. this would not be much of an issue; 99% of the buildings need replaced.