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Board discusses supplement pay, booster funding and ticket prices for school extracurriculars
Summary
Levy County School Board members and staff reviewed how supplements for coaches and extracurricular staff are paid, how school-level budgets and boosters affect who gets paid, and concerns about equity and legality when boosters or alumni supplement salaries or benefits.
During the same workshop, the board shifted to how the district budgets and pays supplements for coaches and extracurricular positions, and to how booster club support, ticket pricing and facility costs affect participation and equity.
A district staff member explained that the board approves the list of supplements but individual schools must pay people from their school budgets. "At the beginning of a budget cycle, we have no idea how many coaches there are going to be," the staff member said. She added that the total supplement pool is large: "Just those types of supplements run us close to a million dollars a year," and when higher education supplements are included, the total is about $1.25 million.
Board members asked how the per-school supplement budgets are calculated. The staff member said the district starts with what each school spent the prior year, then adjusts for new supplements and changes. That method produced surprise at some schools this year, because a school that did not pay a supplement the prior year receives little or no budgeted money for it in the current cycle.
Several board members raised booster funding and equity concerns. Board attorney David said boosters paying individuals directly has been common elsewhere but can raise downstream legal issues. He warned that uneven booster support can create Title IX-style equity problems if one sport receives extensive private funding and better facilities or services while other sports do not. "If the boys' basketball coach... has analysts and services and the girls have to pile into a broken-down van," the attorney said, that raises district obligations to investigate.
The board also discussed ticket pricing, family passes and the cost of staging events. Members and staff noted stadium lighting and officials' fees have risen and that a flat countywide ticket price could be unfair because schools have different costs and attendance. A board member suggested discounted or free admission policies for participating student-athletes to increase attendance.
The workshop produced no vote. Staff said they will continue advising principals about how to allocate school-level supplement budgets and offered to bring additional information to administration meetings and future board sessions on equity, booster practices and ticketing options.
Ending: Staff and board members agreed to continue the discussion in administrative meetings and to return to the board with data on school supplement allocations, booster involvement and options for ticket and pass programs.
