Fall sports numbers please Selk

Participation in fall sports in the Brainerd School District is down compared to last year, but the numbers are still pleasing, Brainerd Activities Director Todd Selk said Monday.

Selk and Todd Lyscio, middle school activities director, presented the fall participation data to the Brainerd School Board Monday. The district is closely watching its sports participation this year because of the cuts the board made this school year. School activities were initially going to be cut, but were saved through funding efforts of Warrior Way Inc.

Selk said Brainerd High School sport participation was down 13 percent from last school year and middle school activities were down 23 percent. However, Selk said he is pleased with the numbers because they still remain relatively high even with the increased fees that have been dropped on families.

At BHS, Selk said there were 388 participants in ninth grade football and volleyball; 10th-though 12th-grade football and volleyball; girls tennis, swimming and soccer; boys soccer; and boys and girls cross country. Of the 388 participants, 143 students received funding from the Warrior Way, totaling $23,840.

Selk said the district raised its gate fees from $5 to $6 and generated about $49,800 in revenue. The district also made about $35,000 from the fall sport fundraisers.

Selk said he knows the district is concerned with the number of fundraisers being held and he said the Activities Advisory Committee is looking at fundraising parameters and language. He said the committee also will revise the current funding model from participation fees to see if anything should be changed to make it run more efficiently.

Selk said the committee will report back to the school board with its findings in late December or early January.

Lyscio said there were 381 participants in the middle school activities compared to 494 students from last year. Lyscio said the projected expenditures in the program is about $60,000 and projected revenue is about $63,000, with $10,000 of the revenue being Warrior Way funding.

Lyscio said the number of middle school coaches decreased from 32 coaches 2007 to 23 coaches this year.

Lyscio said fees went from $50 per participant to $120 for sixth-graders and $190 for seventh- and eighth-graders. Participation fees for power conditioning went from $25 to $50.

Lyscio said a change in the middle school program is that volleyball moved to an in-house program at the request of the varsity head coach.

In other business, the board approved the Long Range Planning Committee's recommendation to set its goal areas to be in finance, curriculum and communications for next year. In finance, the district wants administration to look at the fund balance and class size. In curriculum, the district would like administration to review the new standards that are in place and look at remedial and intervention programs and student-driven instruction. In communication, the district would like to see board members and school administrators in the public more.

Will allow the district to submit a grant to the Minnesota High School League that would assist students with participation fees.

Approved an amendment to the ice arena lease with the city of Brainerd that would allow the district to retain the gate revenues starting at the beginning of the 2008-09 hockey season. In exchange, the district lease payment for the season would increase by $6,000. The Brainerd City Council already approved the amendment.

Approved the 2007-08 audit report and the 2007-08 student activities audit report.

JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.