Extracurriculars go if Kettering school levy fails

District’s finances make 2011-12 plan a promise, not threat, board official says.

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 2:00 AM Friday, September 10, 2010

Kettering schools officials say they would eliminate all 2011-12 extracurricular activities — including sports and band — and reduce busing to state requirements if voters reject the district’s 4.9-mill property tax levy Nov. 2.

“If your back is to the wall, and the voters say no in November, I don’t think you can justify continuing to fund those things,” Superintendent James Schoenlein said Thursday, Sept. 9, during a meeting with the Dayton Daily News editorial board. “They become frills.”

The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $150 per year and would raise about $6.4 million annually. The district’s general fund is about $80 million. A larger levy was rejected in May.

School board Vice President Julie Gilmore said the district’s focus is on getting the levy passed, but added the board is “in full agreement” with the 2011-12 cutting plans if the levy fails.

“Some people are going to say, ‘Now you’re threatening us,’ ” Gilmore said. “Well we didn’t threaten them (in May). We said, ‘This is what we need,’ and it didn’t work. Now, as the board, we’ve said we are going to explain these cuts that we have to make. People may say it’s a threat, but it’s also reality.”

Fairmont High School junior cheerleader Caitlin Hageman said the “reality” would eliminate things that make high school special.

“Cutting cheer or any sports team would be huge,” Hageman said. “These activities play a big part of the high school life for four years. They give you a chance to be a bigger part of the community.”

Kettering students currently pay $30 to $60 per sport to play, with a family cap of $150 per year. Those figures are lower than some surrounding districts, but Schoenlein said he didn’t envision keeping some programs alive by increasing the participation fees.

“I don’t think you can have individual parents and groups picking off programs that they like and saying, ‘We’ll fund that one,’ ” he said.

Some Kettering parents disagreed. Parents already pay as much as $400 a year to participate in music programs such as marching band, winter guard and show choir, but those programs also could be eliminated next fall.

Schoenlein said even those high fees don’t cover the full costs of the program.

“Although I don’t relish the idea, I would rather pay a little bit more and have those opportunities rather than lose them altogether,” said Gay Lynn Bartlett, who has two children in the school system.

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