Middle School Sports Eliminated in Charlotte

Business

Any time government is involved, the borrow and spend mentality becomes a part of the culture. Until the economic bust which was created by providing loans to families that could not afford the homes they were buying, insuring those loans through an insurance product, then investing in those loans by funds, 401-k plans, and company and other individuals which as we all know failed and brought down the world's largest economic vehicle.
Now I am off my podium, let's get back to the Mecklenburg situation, there has to be cuts! If you have millions less dollars to work with you can not pay for the same services, payrolls, expenses you had prior to the loss of those millions. All of us certainly understand that concept. The superintendent and the school board will never please everyone and must try to make decisions that provide the best educational possibilities for the students. After all education is the reason our kids go to school. Middle school sports, pre-kindergaten programs, after school care, magnet schools are all areas which they have viewed, as well as reducing teachers.
I love sports! I think they are positive for the most part till parents get involved and attack coaches, umpires, other parents and yes even kids. We just may be the reason for some of the issues, you think?
When you vote, consider whom you are voting for and what they stand for, attend PTA, school board meetings, write letters, develop groups, and offer suggestions for how to make the school system more efficient. Gorman has a very tough job! He is not one of my favorites from a personal standpoint but I do recognize his job is impossible because there will always be unhappy people, no matter what he does.
Sorry to go on so long but let's have solutions instead of constant complaining.
Middle school sports: Bring back the recreation leagues, combining a couple middle schools and start a league. You develop character by combining schools that use to compete against each other and you prepare kids for the HS where they will combine. Could help the HS's sport's program.
Start Parent support groups: meet and talk about things that affect your school and kids and offer solutions
Communicate: Talk to your kids, your teachers, your administrators and find out how you can assist them.
Ok I will shut up, I could go on and on as I had three kids go through the Mecklenburg system and understand frustration and just like many of you, I complained until I figured out it did not help to talk about how wrong everything was and not have at least a possible solution.

 

Yes Boosters is the answer. Here in little ol Randolph County our Rec.,Middle School, and High School sports are supported by booster club which consits of athlete parents that raise the money to keep the sports going. And most times the coaches are volunteers. If we had to depend on tax money for sports it wouldnt happen. Ive seen boosters do amazing things such as raise enough money to have lights put on ball fields etc...

 

I wonder if Gorman wouldn't mind taking a pay cut also.Most kids will still play sports at the local rec association.I also believe that booster and parents of kids that want to play can pay for the kids to play.It's pretty much is coming down to that any way parents pay for everything one way or the other.I don't mind paying for my kid to play at school or working to raise money.Most parents (not everyone)don't like that route and are lazy when it come to raising money or working a fundraiser for a team.It may come down to that if we want to keep school sports.Will it be fair for only private schools to have middle school sports and public schools not?

 

You guys/gals in the Charlotte Area can handle
it , you do it the other 10+months anyways just contiune funding as you do!! It's worth it.

Nc softball still WIP (work in progress)!

Loving it!

 

I know there has to be cuts in the budget when the Gov. cuts your funds. If its costing 10 million dollars to support middle school sports then maybe they need to analyze what is costing so much. Try to cutting expenses in the sports and rearranging schedules and less games to cut cost. I say don't eliminate the sports just cut back on expenses.

 

Middle school sports cost 1.2 to 1.2 Million a year to operate not 10 Million.
I would like to see them kept but It does not look good. Now please don't take this the wrong way but If I remember correctly it was not all that long ago that the majority of posters on here wanted to not let there DD play MS ball because of the lack of good coaching and no competition. What has changed?

 

Wake County

Not sure if or when this will happen, but I've been told that in 2012 parents in Wake County are going to have to start paying for kids to play some HS sports because of the sever budget cuts.

I can not imagine what will come next regarding the kids sitting on the bench at HS games, and parents paying for it.

TB will surely go year round at all levels, and Rec Ball will be the new school ball, just without the school uniforms.

 

Developers?

Now don't jump on me, I'm in the construction business as well. When I was a kid growing up in the burbs south of Detroit, I remember that it was the developer of subdivisions that either built the infrastructure, Schools and the like or payed a fee based upon the development size. This initial cost was not entirely paid by taxes. Not a popular view but one that is direct and to the point. Obviously operating cost and the like were bore by the tax payers.
Just saying!
Dad