$75,000 for athletics proposed to achieve equity among Rock Hill high schools

The Rock Hill school board will be asked to increase high school athletic budgets by a total of $75,000 in the quest to equitably fund teams at Northwestern, Rock Hill and South Pointe high schools.

Kelly Pew, superintendent of Rock Hill schools, said Wednesday night she will ask the board in January to increase funding at Northwestern and Rock Hill by $20,000 each and by $35,000 at South Pointe for the current budget year and include those funds in upcoming budgets.

The recommendations are from the Greenville accounting firm Greene Finney & Horton, which has been looking at financial equity issues at the three high schools.

Accountant Larry Finney explained the proposal to the district’s equity committee Wednesday. The committee, composed of principals, parents and students from each of the high schools, was created by the school board to study whether resources at the three schools are equitable.

Finney said his recommendations are based on costs that each athletic department must pay. He looked at three specific areas: transportation costs based on mileage, officials and security.

An analysis of the athletics schedules for all teams for the past two years showed the “base” costs were about the same for Northwestern and Rock Hill but more expensive for South Pointe, because the Class 3A school has to travel farther to play region opponents and the revenue at home games is less, he said.

Finney proposed that South Pointe receive a $15,000 “equity” payment to cover the difference in costs.

Giving each school an additional $20,000 would put them on par with other outstanding athletic programs in the state, he said.

In 2008, the district eliminated a $35,000 athletic payment to each school to balance the budget during difficult economic times. The school district recently restored $20,000 of that allocation, school officials said.

Pew said she will ask the school board to use reserves to increase the athletic funding this year. She plans to incorporate the request in upcoming discussions for the 2015-2016 budget which will begin in January.

The accounting firm also recommended that the district increase the per-pupil athletic funding periodically to account for inflation.

Principals at the three high schools said Wednesday night the additional funds would help each of their programs achieve a “better bottom line.”

Members of the equity committee questioned Finney as to whether his analysis included all of the “base” costs. An example of a “base” cost not included in the current analysis would be feeding athletes or band members before events, several equity members said. These costs are sometimes paid by booster organizations.

The equity committee took no action Wednesday night. School board members have been briefed on the accountant’s recommendations.

The committee, which has been meeting for several months, is expected to make its report to the school board soon. Any recommendations must be unanimously endorsed by the committee to be forwarded to the school board.

The equity discussion, which started when South Pointe High School opened 10 years ago, resurfaced this summer when Pew asked Greene Finney & Horton to audit the activity funds at all three schools. The firm was asked to examine activities ranging from athletics to the French Club and high school yearbooks.

The firm’s report found that accounting procedures at the schools were inconsistent. It also found that South Pointe has run deficits in its per-pupil activity accounts for several years. The school board voted to split South Pointe’s deficit in half, with the district forgiving 50 percent of the deficit and South Pointe paying half over three years.

The school board has discussed spending $1.72 million to improve athletic facilities at the three high schools.

A school district study proposed renovating existing space at South Pointe High School into a wrestling room, installing air conditioning in auxiliary gyms at Rock Hill and Northwestern high schools, and adding bleachers and storage facilities at school athletic fields.

Funding could come from the $110 million bond referendum voters approved in May.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "$75,000 for athletics proposed to achieve equity among Rock Hill high schools."