THE PREPS : $3.7 Million for Athletics Is Not an Expense, It’s an Investment

Some thoughts for Mark Slavkin, the controversial board member of the Los Angeles Unified District:

No one said it would be easy serving the nation’s second-largest school district. Your task Wednesday night, trimming $400 million from the district’s $3.88-billion budget, is an unenviable duty.

It is difficult to comprehend making nearly 10% in cuts in an already strapped district that is still growing. Obviously, there has to be a lot of give-and-take.

But of the seven board members, you have been the only one supporting the elimination of athletic funding. Even though athletics account for less than 1% of the budget, you seem to think eliminating sports would send out a strong message that this is not business as usual.

Overcrowded classrooms, old textbooks and teachers’ pay cuts already indicate these are not normal times in education.

And asking teachers to trim their salaries by as much as 17% and then go out and supervise Friday afternoon football games does seem to send a mixed message.

In a list of priorities, athletics should not be at the top.

It doesn’t seem fair to make a student stand in the back of a science class because there are not enough desks and then continue to give money to the basketball team.

You have a lot of arguments on your side.

But the broader picture might be slightly different.

Athletics have been around since 1896, when Los Angeles High won the City football title. Today, there are 13 sports offered for boys and girls.

Although no exact numbers are available, some high school administrators estimate as many as 50% of the students go out for sports in any given year. National studies have shown that student-athletes tend to have higher grade-point averages.

Athletics offer students something to do with what otherwise might be idle time. For many, that translates into staying out of gangs and off the streets. Those hopeful of receiving athletic scholarships may be staying in school only because of sports.

Coaches and parents have long maintained that athletics are the best way to keep kids in school. Besides teaching discipline, they offer hope.

In 1988, for instance, a record 12 players on the Carson football team received scholarships. Other district schools have similar success stories.

Some of today’s best-known role models were athletes at district schools, including John Elway of the Denver Broncos, who went to Granada Hills, and gold-medal Olympian Quincy Watts, who went to Woodland Hills Taft.

You have said you understand the value of athletics, but not at all costs. You believe the elimination of district funding would result in an outpouring of donations from the community. You think corporations would help underwrite the cost of the program.

In these tough economic times, it is unlikely that the district could quickly raise the necessary $3.7 million.

The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs the state’s high school athletics, already seeks corporate sponsorship and is increasing its resources in this area. But officials say it has been a tough sell.

And there is no guarantee that the community will bail the district out on this one. Eliminating the athletic budget will probably result in no sports for at least the rest of this calendar year.

Although it is not going to be easy to tell teachers their salaries have been cut, it may be even more difficult to tell thousands of athletes that their teams have been shut down.

The $3.7 million spent on athletics might be the district’s best return on its dollar. You may want to reconsider your position, Mr. Slavkin.

Athletic budget cuts are not new to the district, which maintains 50 high schools.

The district trimmed the athletic budget 20%, or nearly $1 million, in June of 1991. Although only junior varsity football was eliminated, coaches say they have noticed the difference in lack of new equipment and poor playing conditions.

In another money-saving measure this year, two of the three district administrators who help run the athletic office were reassigned. Commissioner Hal Harkness is running the office with the aid of two secretaries.

And to cut down on transportation costs during winter vacation, the boys’ and girls’ soccer seasons have been moved up a month and will end before Christmas.

Coaches are caught in the middle of the district’s budget crisis.

United Teachers-Los Angeles, the union that represents the district’s 35,000 teachers, is supporting Slavkin’s plan to eliminate athletic funding. But because many coaches are also teachers, they are having a hard time backing the union.

UTLA President Helen Bernstein met with football coaches in August and asked them to boycott the first game of the season as a show of support. Coaches chose not to, many saying they did not want to use their players as scapegoats.

“Coaches do this because they love the sport,” said Wendy Triplett, girls’ basketball coach at Marshall.

Prep Notes

Pasadena Muir’s 6-3 defeat by Rialto Eisenhower Friday night ended Coach Jim Brownfield’s personal 26-game winning streak, dating to 1985. Brownfield did not coach from 1987-91. . . . Garden Grove Rancho Alamitos might have the most talented offensive backfield in the Southland. Fullback Leon Vickers and tailback Jeff Byrd combined for 299 yards rushing and four touchdowns in the Vaqueros 31-13 victory over Mission Viejo last Thursday. Rancho Alamitos’ only loss in three games was the forfeit of a 42-0 season-opening victory over Fullerton Troy for the use of an ineligible player.

Carson, 1-2-1, went through some changes last week. Upset over its offensive output, Coach Marty Blankenship brought back former quarterback coach Steve Clarkson. Clarkson, who coached Perry Klein (California) and John Walsh (Brigham Young), will serve as a volunteer assistant. The move prompted offensive line coach Don Bohannon to resign. The Colts then won for the first time, 35-15, over Colton.

Times’ Top 20 Football Poll

The Times’ top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Eisenhower SS I 3-0 1 2. Bishop Amat SS I 3-0 2 3. Esperanza SS II 3-0 3 4. Loyola SS I 3-0 5 5. Muir SS II 2-1 4 6. Hart SS II 3-0 10 7. Los Alamitos SS II 3-0 6 8. Fontana SS I 2-1 8 9. Dominguez SS II 3-0 9 10. Servite SS II 2-0-1 13 11. Nogales SS III 3-0 11 12. Mater Dei SS I 2-0-1 12 13. Downey SS II 3-0 NR 14. Ran. Alamitos SS VII 2-1 NR 15. Baldwin Park SS III 3-0 15 16. Crespi SS I 3-0 16 17. Peninsula SS III 3-0 NR 18. Wil. Banning City 4-A 2-1 18 19. Saugus SS II 2-0-1 NR 20. Sylmar City 4-A 2-0 20