FL: 2003... Cut athletic budgets by $330,000+

07-Jun-2003 St Petersburg Times, sptimes.com, Tampa, FL, By SCOTT PURKS

Budget solutions found

Ordered to save more than $330,000, county athletic officials propose cuts for transportation, event security, uniforms and meal money.

The Hillsborough County School Board told the county's athletic department in May it must cut its budget by $338,223 for the 2003-04 school year.

A mandate that sent county officials - namely director of athletics Vernon Korhn and his assistant, Jennifer Burchill - in search of ways to save.

Korhn and Burchill scoured budgets, crunched numbers, surveyed schools' principals and athletic directors, and on Wednesday revealed their proposal to the schools.

The cuts include:

Transportation, $169,653: Use county buses (the yellow and black ones) instead of charters for in-county events. Use charters only for long-distance, out-of-county contests.

Events might have to start later so county buses can be used after taking students home from school.

Burchill said school athletic directors are also looking for every opportunity to avoid buses altogether.

"If they can use their own cars and vans they will," Burchill said. "Everybody is totally on board with trying to save.

"Everyone sees that we have to find ways to save."

Security, $50,000: The number of officers will be trimmed at events (down to county policy eight per football game, for instance). Some events, such as swimming, might do without an officer on site.

Uniforms, $44,000: Each school's uniform budget will be cut by $2,000. Booster clubs will have to find ways to raise money for uniforms that meet county specifications.

Team meals, $25,000: No more money will be provided for teams that travel overnight.

That adds up to $288,653, or $50,000 short of the mandate.

The good news, Burchill said, is that an anonymous person has offered to make a substantial donation that will more than likely make up the difference.

The other upsides, she said, include the fact that no events, programs or middle school sports will be cut.

"We are in a very good situation with our districts the next couple of years because almost all of them play in county," Burchill said. "Only a few schools have to travel out of county for district games, which obviously saves a lot on travel costs."

If more cuts are requested in the coming years, however, events and possibly sports, could get hit.

"Right now, we're down to the bare bones," Burchill said. "We all need to try and save money because another budget cut would hurt very, very badly."

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