Is this something he can just do?
Over the years, the boosters have developed an invitational meet for the high school teams (girls and boys) that is a pre-Districts event. For many of the JV kids, this is their big finale for the season that they otherwise wouldn't have had, or their last chance at qualifying for a spot at Districts.
We run the whole thing. We rent the pool, we invoice the schools attending (basically covers the cost of the pool rental), we apply for parking permits with the city, we get the meet officials organized, we offer hospitality to our meet officials and all the coaches (about 50-60 people), etc.
Now we have a new athletic director. He has decided that he wants all of the admissions that we charge and the cut that we get from the apparel vendor. It is my understanding that this will go into the **general** ASB funds at the school, along with admissions prices from all the school team events. It doesn't look like he's giving us a say in the matter. He will let us run the concessions, and print our own heat-sheets to sell so that we can earn the money to pay for the hospitality for the meet officials that we also will still provide. Basically, it looks like he wants to cherry-pick and take our easier source of funds that we use for team purposes, and leave us with the labor.
The money we earn from the invitational helps to buy team shirts for the boys. The team shirts are some of their favorite clothing – for the boys in particular - and we've turned it into a team building event with special names chosen by team captains printed on each shirt and revealed at a team dinner before the event. We also need to take care of our meet officials. The only meet for the whole season that they are paid for is Districts. The rest is volunteer work on their part, so we treat them well with food and team apparel. We also have to get volunteers to cover all of the timer positions and most of the meet set-up during the entire season, as well as Districts. The school does not provide for that. We also buy equipment needed by the coaches as they don't have to submit through the school - which requires planning ahead a season or two and not asking too much, lest it get turned down (it's all-or-nothing with the school's system). We bought the giant scoreboard and the record boards that hang at the pool. The scoreboard is used by many other groups.
Does anyone have any advice on this situation? Is there anything that we can do? Is this something that the school can just decide is "theirs"? I honestly don't know how this type of thing works.
If you don't get satisfaction from the AD, you can kick the decision up one level and contact the school superintendent or HS principal (whoever the AD reports too). The AD may not be happy with this appeal, so try to reason with them first. If the Superintendent and AD are in lock-step, then the School Board of Education (BOE) is your next level of appeal.
The BOE is made up of members of the community and you can and should consider contacting individual members, especially if there is someone in your group who knows one or more and can find a sympathetic ear. The BOE President with the Superintendent generally control the BOE meeting agenda, and you can request a spot on their meeting agenda. If they aren't willing to provide an agenda spot, simply show up at a meeting and speak during the open session. A lot depends on the attitude of the Superintendent and BOE President. Remember you catch more with honey than vinegar, and its not a good idea to become belligerent, hurl accusations at the AD or Superintendent, and become overly aggressive at an open public meeting. Get other supporters to come with you to the meeting, be ready to cooperate and compromise, and hopefully the BOE and Superintendent will be able to work out something that satisfies the AD and your interests.
The AD may be concerned about the responsibility to account for funds raised and how they are spent. School boosters can be a bit tricky and the district runs the risk of being blamed for problems - real or perceived. And schools are finding it hard in our state to find funds to support sports. Some have resorted to charging kids to play them. It would be good to find out if budget and the potential loss of the entire swimming program are what's driving the AD's change.
I recently attended my HS 50th reunion and unfortunately none of the other "core" swimmers from our team were able to make it, but a number of the others were there. These guys all contributed to our success, made practices, scored points, and cheered us on when they weren't in the water at meets. One of the swimmers that did attend indicated he is still swimming laps. So I believe we created at least one life time swimming success story. I wish we'd had a booster group like yours that set up a meet for these other guys.
Good luck, sounds like a great cause, and hope you find a way to continue.
If you don't get satisfaction from the AD, you can kick the decision up one level and contact the school superintendent or HS principal (whoever the AD reports too). The AD may not be happy with this appeal, so try to reason with them first. If the Superintendent and AD are in lock-step, then the School Board of Education (BOE) is your next level of appeal.
The BOE is made up of members of the community and you can and should consider contacting individual members, especially if there is someone in your group who knows one or more and can find a sympathetic ear. The BOE President with the Superintendent generally control the BOE meeting agenda, and you can request a spot on their meeting agenda. If they aren't willing to provide an agenda spot, simply show up at a meeting and speak during the open session. A lot depends on the attitude of the Superintendent and BOE President. Remember you catch more with honey than vinegar, and its not a good idea to become belligerent, hurl accusations at the AD or Superintendent, and become overly aggressive at an open public meeting. Get other supporters to come with you to the meeting, be ready to cooperate and compromise, and hopefully the BOE and Superintendent will be able to work out something that satisfies the AD and your interests.
The AD may be concerned about the responsibility to account for funds raised and how they are spent. School boosters can be a bit tricky and the district runs the risk of being blamed for problems - real or perceived. And schools are finding it hard in our state to find funds to support sports. Some have resorted to charging kids to play them. It would be good to find out if budget and the potential loss of the entire swimming program are what's driving the AD's change.
I recently attended my HS 50th reunion and unfortunately none of the other "core" swimmers from our team were able to make it, but a number of the others were there. These guys all contributed to our success, made practices, scored points, and cheered us on when they weren't in the water at meets. One of the swimmers that did attend indicated he is still swimming laps. So I believe we created at least one life time swimming success story. I wish we'd had a booster group like yours that set up a meet for these other guys.
Good luck, sounds like a great cause, and hope you find a way to continue.
