Athletic programs to disappear as local kids fall behind state goals
Santa Monica students are out of shape — and looming cuts to the school district’s athletic programs threaten to flatten test scores as well as stretch waistbands.
That’s the message Chris Corliss, athletic coordinator for the district, gave to the school board last week.
More than $800,000 in proposed cuts to physical education and sports programs couldn’t have come at a worse time, he said.
Only 26 percent of students passed all six of the state’s minimum fitness requirements last year and 51 percent passed five of the six rudimentary tests.
P.E. programs are the only form of activity for 70 percent of the district’s nearly 13,000 students, Corliss said, and cutting them will have wide-reaching negative effects.
“It’s going to mean a huge hit, both in the environment that we’ve built and in academic and fitness results,” said Corliss, one of two coordinators in the district’s educational services department.
The entire seven-person department, which also runs music and arts programs, is in jeopardy under the proposed budget cuts.
What’s worse, said Corliss, is none of the P.E. or athletic cuts are in the first “bundle” of items to be restored if the school parcel tax passes June 3. That means the future of the fitness positions and programs is dependent on Malibu and Santa Monica bumping up their annual contributions, something local council members have said is unlikely.
Dedicated parents and teachers successfully lobbied the district to put threatened music and art programs into the first bundle of proposed reinstatements.
The proposed cuts include $441,000 in elementary school P.E. specialists and aides, $187,000 in secondary school P.E. aides and lifeguards, $25,000 in high school trainers, $65,000 in high school sports transportation funds and $96,000 for Corliss’ position.
The cuts will effect every level within the district, Corliss said.
“You can have my position. Take my money and give it to the elementary teachers.” — — CHRIS CORLISS School district athletic coordinator
Dozens of part-time staff members and “walk on” coaches will lose their jobs, swimming programs at John Adams, Lincoln, Santa Monica High School and Malibu High will be eliminated, medical specialists will no longer be available at sporting events and transportation for 1,500 students to school games will disappear if the cuts are finalized, Corliss said.
Thousands of students will be effected, hundreds of teachers will have to take on new responsibilities and the district will assume potentially millions of dollars in liability, Corliss told board members.
Corliss said the elementary P.E. positions are especially important because classroom teachers who are not qualified in sports would be asked to pick up the slack, which means expensive training for the teachers and less time for preparation.
“You can have my position,” Corliss said. “Take my money and give it to the elementary teachers.”
Supporters of the physical education programs point to a variety of studies that highlight the correlation between health and academic performance. Without fitness, student performance and the overall eagerness to learn declines, according to the studies.
Norm Lacy, a Samohi P.E. teacher, said there has not been a lot of progress in fitness levels at the high school over the past 25 years he’s been with the school. He said about one-third of the students lack motivation and the school is doing its best to offer socially based programs to involve the apathetic kids.
Lacy said the school will do its best to deal with the cuts.
“We’ll have to pick up that slack,” he said.
School board members, who have been forced to prioritize their way out of a $13 million budget shortfall for next year, expressed frustration over the proposed cuts.
“It’s devastating for anyone that believes that P.E. is what we’re all about,” said school board member Mike Jordan. “Our hands are kind of tied now. All we can really do is wring our hands.”
School board member Shane McLoud said just because P.E. positions and programs aren’t in the first bundle of programs to be reinstated doesn’t mean the school district has written them off.
“We all value physical education,” he said. “Kids need that just as much as music, or art, or core (classes). It’s very frustrating to see all this happen.
“But everything is on the block.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 8, 2003. Read the original PDF.