Recently, my hometown’s high school announced that they are building a $5.5 million indoor sports practice facility. This facility is a 50,000 square feet addition and will even be complete with turf fielding. Of the $5.5 million, $750,000 is coming from the capital projects budget; $500,000 from the district’s booster club; $1.5 million is coming from the 2015-2016 academic year budget; $1.1 million is coming from the 2016-2017 academic year budget; and the remaining cost will be covered by the district's cash reserve and a loan from the state. Based on this, there is about $2.6 million that could have been used to enhance the academics and learning, which is what students are there to do. The school board is using the argument in defense of the new facility that nearly half of the 1,500 students at the high school play at least one sport, which makes the current weight room and gym hectic. My response to this argument: 100 percent of the 1,500 students are there to learn and get an education.
My former high school is a great school and the academics were outstanding as they do offer a wide variety of courses and various AP, CAPP and CLEP classes. However, there’s always room for improvement. When I was a student there, many of the books had ripped covers and were in very poor condition, a lot of the science equipment was old and outdated, and generally the materials provided to students were not in the best shape. In my mind, I can’t comprehend why the school district decided to take about $2.6 million over two years out of academic budgets to fund a sports practice facility when they could have easily improved and upgraded the academic materials used by every student. When I asked Elle, a graduate of the school, about the recent announcement, she stated that, “This extra money should be going towards rewarding the people who provide the district with everything it has. It isn’t about how good the facilities are, it’s about how good of an education you are receiving. If we’re being honest, the chance of a high school football player, or athlete of any kind of that matter, going into a professional league is next to impossible. But the chance of one of us becoming a medical researcher, groundbreaking engineer, or future educator ourselves is must more realistic. None of us would get there if it wasn’t for the teachers who made it all possible." This money could have been used in various academic areas, such as rewarding teachers, expanding the foreign language program, getting new textbooks and improving science and technology materials.
In the district’s defense, the high school hasn’t solely spent money on sports. They recently upgraded the theatre, library-media center, welding/metals programs and built a special education addition. I do recognize their efforts in improving aspects of the school other than sports. But in my opinion, athletics are and always have been the school’s top priority. When I attended this school, every student got called out of class to attend multiple sports pep rallies to send various teams to state. Athletics only receive this special treatment. When choir and band kids went to state solo and ensemble, they didn't receive a pep rally. These students eventually did get one, but it was after school and students weren't required to attend. But these athletic pep rallies were in the middle of the day and took away from time in the classroom. I understand that recognizing students for their achievements is important, but is it really necessary to require every student to attend and schedule them in the middle of the day?
I know that my former high school is only one example, but it leads me to wonder if there are other high schools like it. Are high schools starting to place athletics above academics? In my hometown, that seems to be the case. The superintendent stated, “This facility will tip the scale toward athletics and wellness, but the district will level it out in coming years.” To me, this seems like an empty promise because I have yet to see any concrete, strategic plans for improvement of the academics. I hope the students and community hold the district accountable to that promise and academics do receive additional funding in the near future.
To answer my question, “Do high schools place too much emphasis on athletics?” I don’t really know the answer. I can only speak from experience and in my case, they do. I hope my high school realizes this and makes a change. I'd hate to see the stellar academics be comprised because the leaders of the district aren't making them the top priority. They need to remember what kids are there to do: to learn.
