What percentage of the athletic fund is subsidized by the general operating budget? How much revenue is from pay to participate fees? How much revenue is generated from other sources?

• In general, the general operating budget subsidizes approximately 60%-70% of the total athletic budget. For example, the athletic budget is generally between $700,000 - $900,000 annually. Pay-to-participate fees generated $204,350 in 2017-2018. In addition, gate admission for 2017-2018 generated $81,632 (minus MHSAA event hosting fees) plus $6290 in season passes. This required close to a $500,000 subsidy for athletics in 2017-2018 from general fund. 2018-2019 numbers are not yet finalized as the school year is just wrapping up.

How many middle and high school students participate in DCS athletics?

• In 2015-2016, **588 students participated in Mill Creek or DHS athletics. In 2016-2017, **617 students participated in Mill Creek or DHS athletics. In 2018-2019, 689 students participated in athletics. The numbers reflect a combination of more interest in athletics and improved coordination of numbers between school-funded and self- funded sports. The numbers include both self-funded and school-funded sports.

• In 2018-2019, 425 students played at least one sport, 238 played at least two sports, and 26 played three sports at DHS. These numbers include both school-funded and self- funded athletes.

What costs are paid by the athletic budget?

• The Athletic Budget pays for the cost of the Athletic Director, Secretary, Coaching Salaries, officials, transportation (when available), game workers, athletic trainer, training supplies, entry/tournament fees, and equipment/uniforms (only when necessary). The budget generally does not pay for equipment or uniforms. We only purchase those items when there is a definite need due to no other funding source.

What costs are teams paying for outside of the athletic budget?

• The varies by team and whether or not the sport is self-funded or school-funded. In general, teams fund-raise or ask for funds for uniforms, equipment, and clothing for the student-athletes. Some teams collect money to fund food for the students before and/or after games. These decisions vary by sport/team and are usually determined by coaches and players.

What is the percentage of general fund subsidy compared to other schools in the conference?

• This varies by year and is not surveyed annually. The last time we collected the data was in 2016-2017 where DCS subsidized athletics by 63%. The subsidies generally are between 60% - 89% based on schools in our conference.

How does the proposed pay to participate compare to other districts?

• Our current pay-to-participate fees are a graduated system of $250 for the first sport, $150 for the second sport, and $100 for the third sport. After analyzing the prior years’ participation and revenue, the athletic committee recommended $250 per sport or $350 for unlimited sports as the closest intervals to nearly break-even on the revenue generated from pay-to-participate.

• The committee recommended the $250 per sport instead of a graduated system that we currently have because of equity concerns for our student-athletes. For example, if a male student participated in water polo in the fall then swimming in the winter, the family would pay the full cost of the self-funded water polo fees, then $150 for swimming because it is the second sport. If a female student participated in swimming in the fall then water polo in the spring, the family would pay $250 for swimming then full cost of the self-funded water polo fees. This creates equity issues between our sports.

• Some schools in our conference have no pay-to-participate fees for school-funded sports but still have self-funded sports. Others have flat fees and others have graduated systems. Two local examples are Pinckney and Saline. Pinckney charges $210 per sport plus students pay for the full fees of self-funded sports. Saline charges $325 for unlimited school-funded sports but students pay the full fees of self-funded sports.

Which sports are funded and which sports are self-funded?

• School-funded: Girls Cross Country, Boys Cross Country, Girls Golf, Boys Golf, Football, Girls Swimming, Boys Swimming, Girls Tennis, Boys Tennis, Girls Soccer, Boys Soccer, Volleyball, Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, Wrestling, Softball, Baseball, Girls Track, Boys Track, Sideline Cheer

• Self-funded: Girls Water Polo, Boys Water Polo, Hockey, Field Hockey, Girls Lacrosse, Boys Lacrosse, Equestrian, Competitive Cheer, Freshman Baseball

How many scholarships are requested per year? What was the cost?

• In 2018-2019, a total of 65 scholarships were requested for a total of $12,150. These numbers are still being finalized and represent some duplicate students and families. We do not receive donations for the scholarships but all proposals for changing the fee structure include continuing with scholarships.

What will be the process for self-funded sports to become a school-funded sport?

• The athletic committee proposed a process that was included in the May 20th Board of Education packet.

What is the additional expense to bring the coach’s salaries in line with surrounding districts?

• We have not completed this analysis in great detail but are estimating an increase of $80,000 - $100,000 in order to match our coaching salaries to other schools in the conference.

What would be the additional expense if all self-funded sports became school-funded sports?

• If the pay-to-participate fees were changed to the $250/sport, we would need an additional $80,000 - $100,000 per year to make all sports’ status “school-funded” except for hockey and equestrian. Teams would still need to fundraise for many expenses (i.e., uniforms, equipment, etc).

• Under the current structure and current expenses, all self-funded sports other than equestrian could be brought in for an additional $170,000. Teams would still need to fundraise for many expenses (i.e., uniforms, equipment, etc).

How many families hit the family cap?

• 18

If the cap was $750 per family, how much would be lost in revenue?

• We have not completed the analysis but would anticipate the numbers to be similar to this year or higher. 26 students played three sports with 16 of those students playing three school-funded sports.

Link to printable PDF (corrected 6/26/2019)

Link to printable PDF (corrected 6-24-2019)

Link to updated PDF