Posted on: Thursday, July 24, 2003

Fall prep sports may survive cuts

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

A budget cut imposed by Gov. Linda Lingle's administration could lead to the elimination of some public high school sports in the winter and spring, but sports scheduled this fall are likely safe, according to a top-ranking high school official.

Lingle announced last month that all state agencies — including the Department of Education's high school athletic programs — would be receiving only 80 percent of their first-quarter allocations for the 2004 fiscal year because of tough economic times. The 2004 fiscal year started July 1.

Dwight Toyama, O'ahu Interscholastic Association executive secretary who also oversees the state's high school athletic budget, said he'll recommend that schools do not cut their fall programs at a meeting of league directors at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Radford.

The athletic budget for the first quarter has been cut 18.5 percent to $1,131,333 for the 42 high schools across the state, according to figures released yesterday by Toyama's office.

"The recommendation right now is we run with the fall sports," Toyama said. "Hopefully, we'll get the money restored. When the second quarter comes around (by October) and if we receive another 18.5 percent cut, then we know it's inevitable. Then sports like basketball, soccer, baseball, softball and judo might have to go."

Toyama said he's hesitant to cut fall sports because there's a chance that the money will be restored to bail out high school athletics.

"If we cut some fall sports now, and the money gets restored, then those kids (who had their sports cut) all lose out," Toyama said.

Toyama said coaching positions would likely be the first area to be cut, but he added that many sports with large rosters are already operating with the minimum number of coaches.

"You can't take away an assistant coach in soccer because of the supervision," Toyama said. "There's a safety issue there."

Stephen Kim, the executive secretary of the Maui Interscholastic League, said the budget cut poses a travel problem for their league.

"It probably affects us more than any other league because within our interleague competition we fly," said Kim, who added that interisland travel to Moloka'i costs $100 each way. "We were already hurting with increases in airfare."

Kim said the cut may force the MIL to delay the introduction of water polo and possibly drop paddling and judo — the two newest sports in the MIL.

"Now with the cuts, it's almost like saying we can't support those teams that just came in," Kim said.

Roy Fujimoto, executive secretary of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, said all areas of athletics will likely be affected.

"Obviously, we're just going to take 18.5 percent from each of the categories, I would imagine, for supplies and equipment, transportation and etc," Fujimoto said.

The public school system is being asked to reduce its budget by $12 million to $20 million. Extracurricular activities such as athletics are being targeted.

DOE spokesman Greg Knudsen yesterday said the budget cuts will be reviewed by the Board of Education as early as August or September, and some programs that were affected could be restored within the first quarter.