Franklin County athletic department outlines program wins, budget strains and facility repairs

The school district’s athletics presenter, speaking in place of Mr. Coltonite, gave an update on student-athlete honors, program participation and facilities during the board meeting.

The presenter summarized individual athlete spotlights from North Middle, South Middle, Huntland and Franklin County High School and said the Franklin County High School cheer squad posted the highest team GPA in the district. The presenter also reported competitive results across programs — for example, North Middle track finished second in the CTC conference, middle-school girls soccer was undefeated at 8-0, Huntland cross country grew to about 25 participants, and Franklin County High School boys cross country won the Coffee County Invitational.

Why it matters: board members and coaches said academic achievement and participation numbers reflect the programs’ strengths, but several financial and facility problems could limit access and safety.

The presenter said the district currently lacks a contracted athletic trainer after Kevin Wallace left and moved closer to home. “We currently do not have an athletic trainer that we're able to offer student athletes,” the presenter said, and staff indicated the athletic trainer role is contracted through the local hospital and the district has had no headway on replacing the service.

On finances, the presenter said Franklin County High School’s school-account expenditures were about $218,000 for the previous year and that booster clubs reported roughly $167,000 in receipts and roughly the same in expenses. The presenter said open purchase orders total about $151,000 and that about $120,500 remains after those POs are paid. He also stressed that gate receipts are variable and not relied upon for budgets; for softball he said gate revenue was under $4,000 while program expenditures exceeded $30,000 last year (school account plus boosters). The district continues to collect team fees for certain equipment or items that athletes keep, while booster clubs and a district uniform account are used to rotate school-owned uniforms.

Facilities concerns were presented in detail for the Franklin County High School softball field: erosion and uneven settling have created a lip in the outfield that can launch batted balls and has caused at least one player to be injured when she tripped on the lip while wearing metal spikes. The presenter said the visitor and home dugouts also flood and mildew, and described separation and dry rot on the press box deck. He gave contractor estimates: approximately $16,000 to scrape, relevel and resurface the softball field (including three internal bullpen lanes) and about $10,000 to rebuild the press-box deck, for a combined total of roughly $26,000.

Board members discussed forming a monthly athletics committee led by Mr. Cole to review finances, facilities and program needs; Mr. Williams asked to expand the committee membership before bringing any funding request for the softball field forward for formal approval. The presenter said the committee has already met several times and recommended using it to improve communication between athletic staff and the board.

Other operational items noted: bus-driver availability and costs constrain away-game travel (one driver rate begins at about $150 when leaving the parking lot and adds roughly $20 per hour after eight hours), golf program participation recently increased after hiring Grant Gibson, and some school gym floors (South Middle and North Middle) show separation and buckling believed to be humidity related.

Board context and next steps: staff recommended continuing committee work and exploring options to restore athletic training coverage, and flagged the softball repairs as a near-term safety priority to be vetted by the proposed committee before funding decisions.