Lacrosse or no, school athletic fees likely to rise

OAK PARK HEIGHTS - The Stillwater Area Lacrosse Association may have established two sizable teams at Stillwater Area High School, but it is the District 834 school board that will determine the program's long-term future.

SAHS Activities Director Ricky Michel went before the board Thursday to ask the school system to take responsibility for the nascent program, which was established in December 2007 with a two-year commitment from the booster organization.

As it stands, the school's roughly 100 lacrosse participants each pay $325 to $350 to play the sport, $150 of which covers the high school's standard participation fees and $175 to $200 of which goes to the Lacrosse Association, which the school bills for program expenses.

Assuming the boys and girls lacrosse teams field 20 players apiece, Michel estimated the sport would cost the district $18,405 more per year than it would bring in through participation fees and other revenue. The funding gap would be significantly smaller if participation is comparable with this year, when there were more than 50 players on the boys team and more than 40 on the girls squad.

"I took a page from (Assistant Superintendent Ray) Queener ... and I was very conservative calculating my totals," Michel joked.

"Clearly, it is a sport that is growing," the activities director continued, noting that next year six of nine Suburban East Conference schools will field lacrosse teams.

"The numbers are growing, the interest is growing, and it is becoming a very popular sport," he said.

The board is expected to approve the move, having already authorized district administrators to include $16,000 for the program in the school system's 2009-10 budget. The board will vote on the matter June 9.

Still, board members took the opportunity Thursday to pepper Michel with questions about how the addition of lacrosse would affect the athletic department budget.

Responding to a question from Kathy Buchholz, Michel said he "wholeheartedly" recommended taking responsibility for the lacrosse program even though he is "very concerned" about possible budget cuts.

"I'd be lying to you if I said that I wasn't concerned," he said. "Just like everybody else, we're going to have to get creative in solving some of these cost problems that are going to occur in the coming years."

Asked if he envisioned increasing the high school's $150 athletic participation fee in the near future, Michel responded without hesitation.

"Realistically, yes. That wouldn't be out of the question. Not for next year ... but it's definitely something to look at for 2010-11," he said. "I know the hair on the back of everybody's neck stands up when you talk about that sort of thing, but that's just the reality of where we're at."

Queener said the nature of the athletic department's budget, much of which goes toward transportation, means Michel would likely be forced to raise participation fees even without the addition of lacrosse.

In other business, the board...

• received a recommendation from Superintendent Keith Ryskoski suggesting the district continue its laptop computing initiatives at Oak-Land Junior High and Stillwater Junior High in their present form through the 2009-10 school year. The board is set to vote on the proposal June 9.
  
  Ryskoski said the programs' long-term future is in jeopardy, however, since the district does not have the funds to purchase 1,400 new computers to replace the ones now in use. He encouraged building administrators and school board members to use the coming year to develop a long-term tech strategy that doesn't require as much funding as the one now in place.



• was asked to consider a proposed 2009-10 discipline policy. Lake Elmo Elementary Principal Andy Fields said proposed policy changes include the addition of language regarding online bullying and a revision of a passage covering iPods and other portable electronic devices to allow students to use them in class if expressly authorized to do so by a teacher. The board is set to vote on the policy June 9.



• received "shared time" requests from local non-district schools looking to participate in District 834 athletic, music and extra-curricular programs. Between them, New Heights, Salem Lutheran School and St. Croix Catholic School asked the district to allow about 45 students to participate in its programs. Though it has in past years, St. Croix Preparatory Academy did not submit any shared-time requests for the 2009-10 school year.



• heard a report from Ginny Kruse Rudolph, director of the St. Croix Valley Area Learning Center, which hosted the meeting. Rudolph gave board members an overview of the alternative learning facility, which enrolls 207 students between the ages of 16 and 20.



• heard a report from Afton-Lakeland teacher Derek Olson, who will soon finish up his term as the 2008 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Olson said he will continue to represent Minnesota educators in coming months as one of eight state teachers of the year asked to provide feedback on educational policy to US Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

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This article was originally published on June 1, 2009, but updated on June 2 to correct figures for the participation fees paid by Stillwater Area High School lacrosse players.

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