School districts that have long battled budget cuts in Arizona are preparing for the possible elimination of entire interscholastic athletic departments if Proposition 100 is defeated in a special election on May 18.
If the proposal, a 1 percent sales tax increase (a penny on every dollar), is rejected, school districts across Arizona would be forced to layoff additional staff members, increase class sizes and cut most of their extracurricular programs.
Although budget cuts are nothing new to Arizona's schools, some of the activities that are on the chopping block this time around have never been there before.
In Tucson Unified School District, for example, the future of high school athletics for the district's nine schools will likely hinge on election results.
With TUSD likely looking at an additional $10 to $20 million in cuts, it's becoming clear that no program has immunity.
Many TUSD athletic directors fear that if the measure fails, the district will have no longer be able to sport athletics.
"The district will be in such a hole financially that they may cut out all athletics period," said Sahuaro High School athletic director Sandy Novak. "Nothing is safe and it's scary because nobody knows what's going to happen until that vote."
The additional sales tax is estimated to generate $1 billion in revenue. Two-thirds of the revenue would be geared towards public education, with the other one-third for health services and public safety.
Athletic directors, in particular, have been put on the hot seat. TUSD is facing a situation where only the bare necessities would survive the additional budget cuts.
When school districts are laying off teachers because of budget cuts, athletics no longer seems like a priority.
Athletic departments spend thousands of dollars on equipment, coaches, umpires and referees, transportation, field maintenance, security and other workers.
At Desert View High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District, the situation is just as grim.
"In all honesty, I can't even begin to think what it would be like if (Prop. 100) didn't pass," said Desert View athletic director and head football coach Jim Monaco. "There is nothing left to cut. We're down to our bare bones."
One possibility that districts are considering is raising the pay-to-play fees for student athletes.
In TUSD, parents already pay $50 for their kids to participate in individual sports (there is a $200 "family cap"). That fee would likely increase dramatically if Prop. 100 fails.
Another source of relief for athletic departments comes from the Arizona School Tax Credit Program, which allows families to donate up to $400 in deductible taxes.
Tucson High School, for example, used to rake in $100,000 annualy from this program, but in 2009 that number dipped to around $40,000, due to the struggling economy.
Tyler Hansen, a first-year teacher at Tucson High and former Arizona Daily Star high school sports editor, doesn't think extra curricular activities in general will have the funds to survive, if Prop. 100 is not passed.
"The money is vanishing in every area," he said. "So I don't see how they could survive much longer, and that will create a worse atmosphere overall at our school."
Hansen more than sees a diminished high school experience without the possibility of extracurricular activities.
"Dropout rates would skyrocket if the arts and sports programs were cut entirely," Hansen said. "So many teachers talk about students who struggle every day to stay in school, and that the only thing that keeps them coming is the wrestling team or the yearbook or the photography class.
It would ruin high school as we know it," he said.
Monaco said it would be the same for Desert View.
"The soul of the school would be torn up," he said.
The doom-and-gloom talk is only if Prop. 100 fails and most administrators and teachers think that it will fail.
"My initial assumption was that it would be impossible for Prop 100 to fail," Hansen said. "The more I talked to other teachers, however, it became clear that their skepticism was warranted."
Hansen said he's seen measures on the ballots to increase education fail.
Monaco agrees. "Everyone's tired of the economy, and let's be honest, people just don't have the money right now to be handing over more taxes."
Novak also understands the importance that Prop. 100 holds for education in Arizona and sees why some people are reluctant to vote for it.
"As a teacher, coach and athletic director I want it to pass," Novak said. "But as a citizen having to pay another penny on everything I buy, you kind of get mad at that.
You have to wonder how the state got to the point where I should have to pay more money because the funds for education weren't taken care of in the first place."
