"Mansfield votes to eliminate high school sports; Committee moves to close massive budget shortfall" by Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent | April 15, 2010
MANSFIELD — Last month, local residents rallied behind the Mansfield High girls and boys basketball teams, as each battled at TD Garden for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s South Sectional title. The girls picked up the win, while the boys fell just short.
But that kind of excitement may not return any time soon: The town’s school committee has decided to eliminate all high school sports as part of a final push to close a massive fiscal 2011 budget gap.
“It was not a simple vote or a happy vote,’’ Jean Miller, chairwoman of the School Committee, said yesterday. “We have a wonderful athletics program here, but in the end, our responsibility is for academics. We had been told by selectmen we needed to present a balanced budget.’’
Other communities have threatened to cut high school sports — or other popular programs — over the last few years, but backed off after balancing the books with other cuts or new taxes. Mansfield officials insist their move is not a ploy, though they were bracing for a packed budget forum scheduled last night....
That means it is.
The elimination of athletics is a major attention grabber.
The elimination of athletics will save $650,000 from a budget that started $3.6 million in the red, said Brenda Hodges, Mansfield school superintendent. “The deficit was so large we had little choice,’’ Hodges said. “In the end, you have to say, ‘What is education all about?’ Still, I never thought I would see a time when we would have to cut sports.’’
I know where you can find millions of tax dollars.
Earlier in budget discussions, there was talk of doing away with freshmen sports and charging participation fees for upper-grade athletic teams. When Hodges said that approach would not generate enough money, the committee decided to cut the full program.
Why are you paying taxes again, Massachusetts?
“When you have to cut that deep to balance the budget, it obviously resonates with the public,’’ said Ed Vozzella, the school department’s business director.
Even though school administrators admit they have been prodding the Board of Selectmen to put a property tax increase before voters this spring to bolster the school budget, Miller stressed the sports program cut is no ploy.
“It was with much pain and upset that we cut all the extracurricular,’’ Miller said. “It wasn’t just sports. It’s drama, music, and chorus, too.’’
Ann Baldwin, Selectmen chairwoman, expressed skepticism about the elimination of high school sports yesterday.
“If they are truly eliminating all sports, why did they hire an athletic director last night, right before they voted to eliminate sports?’’ Baldwin said about the appointment of Joe Russo from acting AD to permanent....
Told you it was a ploy!
Yup, even the local pukes can't tell you the truth.
"Mansfield perplexed over threat to sports" by Peter Schworm and Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff | April 16, 2010
MANSFIELD — Residents of this middle-class suburb knew public schools were proposing cuts in teachers and services to close a budget gap, but few were prepared for the news that rippled through town yesterday, that the School Committee had voted to eliminate high school sports.
“Mansfield is a really big sports town,’’ said Kevin Mutascio, a senior at Mansfield High School. “No sports. No drama. No band. No orchestra. It seems kind of surreal.’’
Facing a $1.8 million budget gap despite dropping 44 staff positions including some teachers, School Committee members said they had little choice but to eliminate sports, a move that would be a first in Massachusetts’ budget crunch. But even as members of the panel insisted their decision was no idle threat, many in town were skeptical, and suspected that officials are trying to exploit residents’ fondness for high school sports to galvanize public support for a possible tax override later this spring, and pressure teachers into accepting contract concessions....
But NOT a PLOY!
Across the state, calls to eliminate high school sports to avoid teacher layoffs and other spending cuts have intensified in recent years. But even in the bruising budget battles of the past few years, the threats have never become reality. And many now see such declarations as public relations ploys meant to rally public support.
Why do you NEED TO BE LIED TO by your "public servants," Mansfield?
“In some cases it’s used to push a tax override, and in others it’s used to increase the budget,’’ said Paul J. Wetzel, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the state’s governing body for high school sports. “You take the most popular thing and say, ‘It’s gone, unless we do something.’ People usually respond.’’
Related: Flying With Your Head in the Clouds
Same principle.
Still, pfft! the Mansfield vote reflects a growing trend to privatize the cost of interscholastic sports, Wetzel and others say.
Yeah, us poor western rubes already do that!
So WHY are you PAYING TAXES again, Bay-Staters?
As schools struggle with soaring health insurance and special education costs, they are increasingly shifting the expense of sports to those who participate, both on the field and in the stands.
A majority of Massachusetts public schools now charge students to join athletic teams and rely more heavily on booster clubs and other private donations.
But banks, wars, and Israel.... sigh.
“Boosters used to sell coffee and hot dogs at the football games, and that was about it,’’ Wetzel said. “Now it’s much more organized and much more significant.’’
With WAY MORE CORRUPTION and LOOTING!
After Hull voters rejected a $1.6 million tax increase last spring, school officials cut the entire athletic budget, but private sponsors and parents picked up the slack.
Hey, they had to save the homeless shelter, I mean, library.
Athletic directors said that just 3 percent of a typical school budget goes toward sports....
They can't find chump change for kids' sports, huh?
One way or another, the fact that towns are increasingly shifting the financial burden of sports to others and broaching the topic of eliminating them altogether appears to be a sign that money pressures are forcing hard decisions....
Related: The Massachusetts Model: Municipal Health Mess
Yeah, when LOOTERS called "public servants" need to be taken care of there is money, yeah.
--more--"
Also see: Towns to Pay Health Tax For Public Servants
No wonder they can't afford sports.Update: Mansfield will transfer funds to save school sports
Of course sports get saved!
PLOY WORKED!
