Laguna Beach : School Board Given Ideas for Raising Sports Money

Faced with a loss of at least $12,000 annually in student sports fees, the school district should consolidate a few athletic staff positions, involve parents in programs and meet any deficit through community fund-raisers and private donations, a special task force has recommended.

“The community is willing and anxious to make up this deficit and more, if it can be assured that it is supporting a quality athletic program (with) discernible integrity and direction,” the High School Athletic Program Advisory Task Force concluded in a recently released report to the trustees of the Laguna Beach Unified School District.

“The task force realizes . . . that unlimited funds are not available for any program,” said the 17-member committee, formed in August after a state Supreme Court ruling barring sports participation fees.

But athletics should be one of the district’s “highest priorities,” the report said.

The task force recommended that the governing board allocate 10% of the district’s per-pupil revenue from the state, or about $254 per student athlete, for sports.

A deficit of $12,000 projected for the 1985-86 school year should be made up through fund-raisers, donations and nonprofit support groups.

The privately raised money should be spent for equipment, awards, supervision, entry fees, officials’ fees and any other “incentives” to coaches, they said.

The task force further recommended that monthly financial reports on the athletic department budget be reviewed by the board members.

In addition, a new parent sports advisory group should be formed to ensure accountability, the task force said.