About 600 Show Up in Irvine for Rally Against Budget Cuts

With high school sports in Irvine facing a possible 25% reduction in funding this fall, about 600 students and parents in the Irvine Unified School District held a pep rally before Tuesday’s school board meeting and made a 45-minute presentation to the board on the importance of athletics.

“We want to see our sports programs maintained and let our school board know the positive support athletics has in the community,” said Steve Shedd, 44, who has a son and daughter involved in sports at University High School. “We hope to see that no cuts in athletics are made.”

The parents and students want the board to know they would rather see budget cuts made elsewhere, Shedd said.

The board was not considering making any budget cuts Tuesday, but school finances have been a major topic for the past several months. Under a worst-case scenario of reduced state funding, the district anticipates having to trim athletics at its three high schools by about $160,000.

Jennifer Allard, a 1986 graduate of University High, told the board that her participation in softball taught her discipline, teamwork, and to push herself to excel. Sports also put her through the University of Michigan on a full scholarship, said Allard, 23.

“What you learn in athletics sometimes can’t be taught in the classroom,” she said. “Some of these things can’t be taught by someone standing up there telling you how to do it.”

Marybeth Michel, an English teacher at Woodbridge High, said she has seen how athletics can affect students. Her husband, a high school coach for 26 years, has participated in the weddings of three of his former players.

“How many subjects can you name that create such strong bonds between mentor and student?” Michel said.

Under the 25% cuts, a district athletics task force proposed recently to eliminate busing for athletics programs, eliminate smaller sports such as golf and tennis, and combine some sports divisions, such as mixing freshman and sophomore athletes together to save on uniforms, referees and other costs.

The task force’s suggested cuts are part of an overall $3.3 million that might need to be trimmed from next year’s budget.

“All of us were just gritting our teeth over making any cuts at all,” said Shedd, who served on the task force.