Olympia School District dropped the ball on telling voters about athletic cuts

From Steve Powell:

The Olympia School District is talking about cutting middle school sports, "C" teams and minor sports such as swimming, wrestling and gymnastics.

This despite voters passing a record levy increase in February.

True, the district did admit there would have to be cuts even if the levy passed, which it did with 59 percent approval.

But what voters need to demand is for districts to be upfront about what the cuts will be.

By letting the district say, "trust us," it now is in control of our money, and we have little to say about what schools can do with it.

You have to imagine if voters would have known about these cuts before February, there were some parents of some athletes who might not have voted for the levy.

While the district would have had a tougher time passing the levy, it at least would have been more honest.

At the time, the district said it didn't know what the cuts might be. That's probably true. But as voters we needed to insist that they come up with that plan before the vote.

Now, a bunch of young athletes could be out of luck. Who knows what kind of trouble some of them might get in to if they don't have sports to keep them occupied in a positive way.

This short-sighted look at athletics also is going to hurt sports at Capital and Olympia high school for years. Without middle school and C team sports, athletes will lack experience and abilities needed to compete at the JV and varsity levels.

Some athletes may choose to transfer to another district, hurting the programs even more.

Communities love to support their schools when they are winning, but it can be a much different story when losing. Fans can be tough, even on high school athletes.

Also, the potential cuts could kill off some excellent programs. Wrestling at Olympia High, for example, has had athletes go to state 29 of the past 31 years. That's not the kind of program that deserves to be on the chopping block.

Like Olympia, North Thurston also is talking about cuts, even if its levy passes next month.

Although it took a levy failure in February to do it, North Thurston is now being upfront about what the cuts will be.

If the levy passes, it doesn't look like sports will be touched. If it fails, sports would face cuts, and some, such as swimming, could be eliminated.

Also, sports participation fees would jump from $75 to possibly $250.

That's the kind of openness I want from my school district. I'll admit I voted against that levy the first time because they didn't provide me with that information. But I plan to vote for the levy in May.

Steve Powell, The Olympian