New Jersey school officials fear athletic programs will suffer because of education budget cuts outlined by Gov. Chris Christie

Friday, March 26, 2010
By BARRY MILLER
The Express-Times

"We don't want to get rid of anything," North Hunterdon athletic director John Deutsch said. "Our backs are against the wall. Something's got to give, that's the problem.

"It's a mess for everybody," he said. "It's a big blow for education as a whole. We didn't think it would be this drastic, this quick."

Christie last week proposed a state budget that would spend $820 million less on public schools next year. A day later, he released district-by-district state aid figures that cut 40, 50 and even 100 percent of state aid allotments for the coming school year.

Each of the state's nearly 600 districts saw reductions of aid equal to about 5 percent of their current budgets.

Local athletic directors this week acknowledged there will be cuts, but they said they are doing all they can to keep programs and coaching staffs intact.

Nothing is certain yet, but Warren Hills athletic director Nick Holgash admitted his school district was "probably going to lose its middle school programs."

Warren Hills offers middle school programs in boys and girls soccer, field hockey, boys and girls basketball, wrestling, cheerleading, baseball, softball and boys and girls track.

Holgash said although the school district won't fund those programs, he expects the students to have a place to play in the municipal recreation programs.

One sport, lacrosse, is a club sport at Warren Hills. Now the possibly of it becoming a school-funded sport next year is unlikely, Holgash said.

Uncertainty in P'burg

Phillipsburg dropped four middle school programs -- boys and girls basketball, cross country and baseball -- over the last two years, said athletic director Tom Fisher. Only wrestling and field hockey remain on the middle school level.

The lack of middle school programs will push more of the burden on the towns' recreational programs, he said.

For Phillipsburg, there's some uncertainty about potential cuts.

"I don't know specifically what we'll lose," Fisher said. "They'll probably be some cuts.

"We've already sliced our athletic budget two years ago and then last year again. To do it a third year, it's going to be tough for us because we're pretty much bare bones."

Typical athletic budgets in New Jersey can run between $300,000 and $800,000, depending on the size of the school, its number of athletic teams and the amount of participants.

Athletic directors estimate their budgets will be cut by tens of thousands of dollars, but won't know for sure until next month. School districts are required to have finalized budgets ready for placement on the ballot by April 3. Budget elections are April 20.

North Hunterdon's Deutsch said schools generally use 3 to 5 percent of their budgets on co-curricular activities in which about 75 percent of the students participate.

"It doesn't make sense to me," he said. "Parents want to see their children involved in co-curricular activities."

Games, tourneys cut out

Len Grzywacz, athletic director at Delaware Valley Regional, said his school probably won't cut coaches or sports but the district will make reductions in other areas.

He said the supply budget for equipment and uniforms will be pared. Freshmen games will be cut to around 10 a season, probably only against conference schools, he said. The freshmen may also play fewer tournaments and scrimmages.

Voorhees is doing the same thing by limiting freshman games and tournaments.

"Transportation is where you really save money," Grzywacz said.

Fewer games mean fewer trips.

Deutsch said athletes obviously improve each season, so taking away sub-varsity sports will eventually impact the quality of varsity sports.

Deutsch has been polling fellow Skyland Conference athletic directors to see how their schools are addressing the budget issue.

"I'm hoping we can find ways for the Skyland Conference to help reduce costs and keep running," he said.

Fisher said his school is different from other schools because coaching salaries and transportation are not part of the athletic budget. He said a meeting is planned for Monday to discuss the issue with the athletic committee of the school board and the business manager.

Athletic directors say they aren't sure how much they will have to end up cutting.

"It's too early to tell," said Buddy Freund, Belvidere's athletic director. "Nothing is decided."