Buckling under a budget crisis, the local school district may charge the Little League and AYSO use fees for fields at local schools. Sports leaders say the fees are too high, and are not guaranteed to go toward athletic programs at schools.
By Jonathan Friedman/Special to The Malibu Times
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s (SMMUSD) attempt to solve its budget problems may end up harming some children. Last week, the SMMUSD’s Sports and Physical Education Advisory Committee informed local youth athletic leaders that they would be charged more money for using district fields. Malibu Little League President Jack Evans said the new costs would be too high.
The Malibu Little League uses the fields at Malibu High School (MHS) for some of its practices and games. The district’s proposal would be to charge the group $45 per field for three hours of use. The group currently uses two fields at the school, over a period of four months. Malibu American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) would be hit even harder, as it uses a larger field at the high school. It would be charged $150 dollars for a three-hour period, plus the $45 charge for a smaller field it uses.
“It doesn’t sound like much,” Evans said. “But when you add up five days during the week for three hours and Saturday for eight hours and Sunday for six hours, it adds up quickly.”
Evans estimated the new costs would be about $10,000 for Little League and $20,000 for AYSO. Currently the two groups are only charged by the high school to use the fields. The money goes directly to the school at a cost of $5,000 for the Little League and $9,000 for AYSO. That money is used to maintain the fields and the bathrooms. But the new fees would go to the district. Evans said the committee said there was no guarantee the money would go toward physical education and athletic programs.
The three-hour period would also be a required minimum amount of time. So even if the field were used for only an hour, the group would still be charged for three hours of use. Evans also objected to this.
“It doesn’t work for us when we have soccer practice for an hour and 15 minutes, baseball games for two hours.”
At last week’s meeting, the advisory committee and district sports and physical education (P.E.) coordinator, Chris Corliss, explained the reason for the new charges was in response to the severe financial crisis the district is experiencing. It has been forced to cut $13.8 million from next year’s budget, and sports and P.E. programs have especially been hit hard. Included in the cuts have been the elimination of elementary school P.E. and the lay offs of middle school P.E. aides and lifeguards, high school athletic trainers, and sports and P.E. program coordinators. Transportation for high school athletic teams has also been cut.
Evans said he is especially worried for AYSO, which starts its season next month. Last week, the group had its first round of sign-ups for the season, which included the fee schedule.
“They can’t possibly go back now and ask for more (money),” he said. “So how are they going to pay for this? That is the question.”
Evans said AYSO is also in a worse situation because it cannot just stop using the MHS fields. He said the Little League could figure out how to operate next year by only using the fields at Bluffs Park exclusively. But he said AYSO could not do this, since there are not enough soccer fields at Bluffs.
Evans said the Little League already operates on a shoestring budget. The parents of the 350 children involved in the program pay $200 each season per child. He said he would be against raising that price. The rest of its money is made through corporate sponsorship. Most of that is used to hire umpires at a cost of between $20,000 and $25,000 each season. Evans said the Little League financially breaks even at the end of each season. But he added that would not happen if it must pay for the newly proposed charges.
If the Malibu Little League chooses to play only at Bluffs in reaction to the new charges, Evans said that would mean fewer fields would be available, thus fewer children would be able to participate. He said that would be unfortunate because the mission of the Little League is that every child gets to play.
“How do we cut it off, only let the good ones play, just the early sign-ups play?” he wondered. “It’s going to be real cut-throat.”
The proposal is expected to go before the Board of Education on either May 1 or May 8.