Cuts by School Board Fuel Momentum for User-Fee Plan

As part of the sweeping budget cuts approved Thursday by the Los Angeles Board of Education, funding for supervision at district athletic facilities was eliminated, opening the door for the assessment of user fees for area youth teams.

User fees likely will be established to make the after-school programs “self-sufficient,” according to the budget proposal. Nonprofit youth teams no longer can expect to use Los Angeles Unified School District gymnasiums or other facilities at no charge.

The board pared $1,386,833 from the budget that previously funded the Student Auxiliary Services Division, which oversees athletic facilities in the district.

According to a district spokesman, user fees likely will be charged to offset that cut. In addition, the position of youth services director at district schools has been eliminated.

The youth services director was responsible for processing use permits and scheduling supervisory personnel.

The district is expected to hold public hearings regarding the establishment of a fee structure, a district spokesman said.

Jeff Gibbons, who led Oak Park High to the Southern Section 1-A Division baseball final earlier this month, has accepted about $19,000 in grants and will attend Pepperdine this fall. Gibbons, a 5-foot-10 right-hander, lettered in baseball, football and soccer at Oak Park.

Brian Sturges, a 1991 graduate of Thousand Oaks High, has accepted a scholarship to play baseball next season at Cal State Sacramento.

Sturges, a catcher, redshirted last season at Lewis-Clark State College, an NAIA school in Lewiston, Ida. Lewis-Clark, which granted Sturges’ request for a release from his scholarship, won the NAIA title last month.

The Westlake-Royal American Legion team completed pool play in the Sierra Nevada Classic at the University of Nevada with a 3-0 record after defeating Rohnert Park on Thursday, 5-4.

Chuck Hirsh had three hits and drove in three runs to lead Westlake-Royal. Adding two hits each were Shane Slayton, Keith Wilson and Steve Talafuse.