Although no departments totally escape the financial slashing required to achieve a balanced budget, athletics often is the last area to receive substantial cuts.

“I don’t know if athletics would be singled out as a priority place to cut back or not,” Choctaw-Nicoma Park Superintendent Jim

McCharen said. “Athletics provides a lot of school pride and that’s hard to take away. Athletics is important to a lot of people in Oklahoma, and we try to keep that in mind when we make decisions. It’s the way culture has evolved in our state.”

McCharen was quick to add that decisions on athletic funding are not made at the expense of academics.

Sports remain a high priority in the community, even though Choctaw’s biggest revenue-producing sports, such as football and basketball, have had losing records in recent years.

“You don’t hear a lot about folks wanting to fire the science teacher, but you hear from lots of people when they want to fire the football coach. It shows you where the priorities lie,” McCharen, a former Choctaw coach, said.

Choctaw-Nicoma Park patrons have supported bond issues that provided money for new or updated facilities. A $98 million bond issue approved by voters in 2008 included funding for a new varsity football locker room, an indoor hitting facility for baseball and softball players, a new outdoor track, a new middle school wrestling workout room and a new turf field for the middle school football teams.

EQUAL IMPORTANCE

Mid-Del Superintendent Bill Scoggan is faced with the same issues as his Choctaw counterpart. The Bombers have long been powers in football, basketball and track. Because of those successes, it’s a difficult decision to reduce the athletic budget.

But all extracurricular programs are important, Scoggan said. Three Mid- Del high schools have had 20 football players accept college scholarship offers recently.

“The last thing we want to do is cut programs of any kind that benefit students,” Scoggan said. “It’s not just athletics. It could involve drama, band or debate. We would do almost anything to keep all programs in place for the kids.”

But both superintendents say the budgetary equation is simple. If teaching positions are cut, coaching assignments are reduced.

At this point, the future of public school funding doesn’t look bright, as administrators are facing yet another 3 percent cut in their budget, McCharen said.

“If things keep going as they are and things keep getting tighter and tighter, then absolutely many programs could be cut out of schools. Where do you go? Everybody’s down to the bone. The belt doesn’t have any more holes,” McCharen said.

Oklahoma is one of the few states that incorporate athletics into the school day. In many other states, practices are held after the school day is over. Additionally, Oklahoma student-athletes are not required to “pay to play,” which is common practice in other states. In some Massachusetts districts, student-athletes must pay $195 a year for every sport they play, while in some Colorado districts, students are paying $185 for each sport, up 37 percent from the previous year.

In 2009, a Santa Cruz, Calif., district eliminated all athletic funding, leaving it up to the individual schools to raise money for the various programs. In Arizona, one district cut its athletic budget by 60 percent last year.

To prevent this type of action and the student-athlete fees, Oklahoma high school athletic programs have relied on active booster clubs that raise money for uniforms, equipment and out-of-town travel. In Choctaw, booster clubs raise money so teams can compete in out-of-state and nonmetro tournaments. School district funding only applies to metro-area games and tournaments.

“If (budgets) continue to get cut and we can’t provide uniforms and equipment, then they’ll need to step up and fill in the gaps,” McCharen said. “It’ll be even more important for them to raise money.”