Education officials to review athletic spending rules

A review of rules requiring more detail on public school athletic spending is scheduled for April 11 in Little Rock following a meeting of the Arkansas Board of Education.

The rules appear to address longstanding concerns that public school athletic costs aren’t fully disclosed. Seth Blomeley, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Education, also said the thinking behind the new rules is to make spending accountability “as uniform as possible from district to district.”

For the first half of fiscal year 2010-2011, the state spent $79.472 million on athletic programs at public schools. The state spent $123.956 million on athletic spending in fiscal years 2008-2009. In fiscal years 2007-2008, the state spent $143.456 million.

Following is the 2008-2009 funding for some Fort Smith area schools.
Alma: $1.203 million
Booneville: $679,677
Charleston: $465,061
Fort Smith: $4.745 million
Greenwood: $1.242 million
Lavaca: $308,470
Mansfield: $426,253
Ozark: $494,850
Paris: $459,091
Van Buren: $2.224 million

Specifically, the new rules, if enacted, would do away with an allocation method used to “identify the portions of district expenditures used to support athletic activities,” and instead require the use of a more detailed list costs. The costs could include:
• The proportion of salaries or supplemental pay for staff for or related to interschool athletic programs or organized physical activity courses;
• All fringe benefits, including, but not limited to, medical and dental insurance, workers’ compensation, pension plans, and any other costs associated with employment of staff for interschool athletic programs;
• Travel, including bus-related operation and maintenance, to and from any interschool athletic program event for students, faculty, spirit groups, band, or patrons of the school district;
• Utilities;
• Maintenance of facilities related to interschool athletic teams and spirit groups, excluding bands; and,
• Construction and renovation of athletic buildings and outdoor playing fields.

“I'll emphasize this is a rough draft and we expect it to change,” Blomeley noted in an e-mail. “Legislative Audit has suggested a couple of items that possibly need addressing. This is the latest draft but it's still early in the process. We'll get feedback from board members and the various education associations following the April 11 board meeting. The tentative plan is to ask the State Board to authorize the department at the May 9 board meeting to put it out for public comment.”

The rules were previously updated September 2007.