If 259 were to eliminate wrestling from the athletic budget how would that affect the rest of highschool wrestling in the state as far as regionals,class 6a and 5a,state at the colliseum and so on? Also do you think 259 would loose out on enrollment because of it? I would like to hear your input on this matter since there is a meeting this coming monday 2/14/05 on cutting 25% of the athletic dept. budget. Ideals are appreciated.

Mike Church Sr.

What schools are in your dist. at 259 ??

hearing about any school droping thier wrestling program is sad to hear about

I had not heard that wrestling was on the chopping block. Last I knew it was mainly elementary stuff. How many total kids does this affect? If they do cut wrestling are these kids going to be bused to nearby communities to continue wrestling (Haysville, Derby, Valley Center to name a few), or some of the small communities? What programs are they keeping that are more costly to run? How many kids are in these programs? Sometimes "they" keep programs they know alot about without knowing how many kids are affected. We saved wrestling in the school I teach at by comparing numbers - at that time the wrestling team was as large as the basketball team, and several kids weren't going to go out if they had to be bused elsewhere. Rally parents!!!

The schools affected would be Wichita South,Wichita West,Wichita East,Wichita North,Wichita Southeast and Heights Highschool. What they are proposing I hear is dropping wrestling,ROTC,drivers ed,swimming,golf,tennis,band,etc. Not a happy week for the students of 259. If my kids were still highschool age and they dropped theese sports and activities I'd sell my house and move. Whats so bad about it is we already do most of the fund raising to keep some of theese sports alive. 259 is doing a poor job of budgeting. Its not salaries to the teachers and its not the money they provide for sports its just alot of waste elsewhere!!

They could always go for the "pay to play" method that several other school districts have. Aside from that the people of our great state could stop electing the same people who continue to budget money for things we don't need instead of giving it to the school districts.

Three Wichita Eagle articles regarding the subject:

Schools begin mulling cuts 02-07-2005!

and
Athletics, fine arts, JROTC face cuts 02-08-2005!

and
BALANCING ACT 02-08-2005!

The articles do not state any specific athletic activity which may be cut.

At this juncture, Mr. Church is speculating and all else is pure conjecture.

Nigel- Wichita already has pay to play in effect.

I was thinking Wichita already had pay to play but not real sure about that. Would kids be exempt from sports if they or their parents couldnt afford to pay to play?

I appologize I did not know that was the case. So I guess I will ask this question now. If the kids are paying to play sports, what would be the purpose of cutting a sports program?

The "Pay to Play" does not cover all expenses of any particular sport and the intent was only to assist with the expenses.

For once Nigel and I are in complete agreement

But seriously, it may hurt a little to raise taxes, but we have squeezed about all we can from every dollar that we get. Something is going to start to give. You can't get a first rate education from 3rd world spending!

I hear there is a board meeting on Monday to discuss this. Maybe Mr. Salyer can look up that information and let everyone know, date, time, place,etc. and the board can see.
What Church Sr. says, has been proposed. It's time the parents of USD 259 make their voice known about their kids extra curricular and in school activities being cut. Do you want to give all of these kids nothing to do after school. Nothing to be involved in. What do you think they will do if they are not involed?

What about all the kids that wouldn't have any chance of going to college on scholarship? That would have more of an impact then anyone relizes.

I'd like more info on this situation. It would seem really dumb to cut the program on the surface, but let's take an honest look.

As a former head coach at Southeast, I have a little bit of knowledge of the 259 doings. I haven't been in 259 for 5 years so things have changed. I'll just analize what I know.

1st - they do have pay to play in the district, which I believe is a detriment to all activities involved. Granted, there are pay scales based on earnings of the parents, but it still exists.

2nd - the booster clubs. Many high schools have them as a generalized endeavor. In 259, they are sport/activity specific. The wrestling boosters raised money for the wrestling team. I don't see that changing because lets be honest, if you've got a nice nest egg (like football), why would you want to share the money with someone like the wrestling team. The wrestling teams have smaller numbers and trying to do a fund raiser for wrestling is troublesome. 1. they just did it for a different sport in the fall thus making the kids beggers in the neigborhood and 2. Christmas is right around the corner.

3. Financial survival. Basically what happens is that the school gives the team enough money to survive, meaning pays the coaches and if they so choose, the officials and workers for duals and tourneys. Need new equipment - see the boosters.

4. Economic viability. When pressured by NCLB for test score improvement, money is spent in areas to help that improvement. Wichita just passed a bond issue a few years ago and taxes have raised for those improvements. I don't forsee the public saying okay to another tax raise for coach salary, etc. Money has to go to the greater good. Getting kids to learn is much more important that wrestling, economically speaking. Someone will come on here and tell of all the benefits sports have and I agree. But if they aren't in the room, then it's not doing anyone any good.

5. College scholarships. You are right in saying that kids are going to be missing out on opportunities for scholarships in wrestling. However, one of the things I preached as well as many other coaches preach is that wrestling is not the golden goose. In college, not many are on full rides. They get partials. So if you're out there banking on a full ride, buy a lottery ticket. Wrestling, in combination with good grades will help considerably with the bill. There is no such thing as the "Ogre" from Revenge of the Nerds. And even if that one kid that could have got a full ride is denied that opportunity because of cutting the program, look at all the kids that were denied an education to pay for coaches etc. for the one kid. I'm just playing devils advocate - these are the arguments your going to come across.

I hope this topic stays fresh and we don't just let 259 have their way. I know there are more people out there against us than for us. I hope for the sake of 259, the wrestling community does more than show up to the board and say "no fair." It's going to take a collective effort of all those affected with a strong strategy of illustrating why it shouldn't be done and preparation of counter points. The district will combat with financial dollars and that is what moves the monkey.

Suggestions, look at a consolidation of athletics. North and West. East and Southeast. Northwest and Heights. There's no rule that says this can't be done. If Wichita truly wanted to keep the sport, consolidation of activities is one option.

Unfortunatly there isn't much I can say on this particualr subject because I neither live in the Wichita area, nor have I ever been effected by budget cuts such as these. My old high school had to deal with budget cuts a few years back but somehow they managed to keep sports around, I guess im still wondering what it is that this school district is unwilling to cut in favor of cutting sports programs.

Gibby,
I think you made many extremely valid points. I too agree that we need to focus our attention on academics, but like you said, sports and other extracuriculars can have an extremely positive impact on academics. When I called for a tax increase, I was not speaking of Wichita alone. We as a state are long overdue for a tax increase, or reallotment of the already scarce financial resources to properly fund education, both curricular and extracurricular. While I understand that we have recently been in a recession, the State representatives that were elected in the late 90's during the heighth of the booming economy cut taxes with such reckless abandon as to squander our state's surplus. Then when the boom came to an end (and who didn't know it would?) they wouldn't raise taxes back to the previous level to continue to fund the programs they are constitutionally required to. To me this is either extreme incompetence or something worse!

An excellent suggestion if it comes to that. I hope the board will take that into consideration before it wipes its hands clean of the whole mess!

coachtwink:

To use an example from Iowa, the Des Moines public schools were faced with a similar situation a few years ago and ended up combining programs. Wrestling, tennis, golf, and a few other sports combined and so far it appears to be a success. It might be a model USD 259 could consider if these cuts end up happening.

As a former member of the Kansas wrestling family, it saddens me to hear this. But sadly, it is a reality that we must all live with. Hopefully, whatever compromises can be made will be made and wrestling can survive in Wichita.

Jeff Holmes

I believe these cuts were IF the state did not change the funding formula like the state supreme court ordered them to do. The republicans offered their plan yesterday which called for a 15% increase in school funding in the state. If this bill makes it through the legislature, 259 has said they would have to make no cuts at all. (in fact a 10% increase would cover all their cuts). So I beleive cutting wrestling is a worst case senerio, not something that is likely to happen. This is a typical scare tactic by 259 to get people excited to contact their representative.

well lets just hope it doesnt have to happen