2/6/12

Part 1
The article is somewhat depressing considering the fact that a school district in a small t0wn about 150 miles outside of San Antonio is considering shutting down their high school sports programs all together. The district in Texas is thinking about this because they hope that by cutting the sports program as a whole, it will save enough money in the long run to keep the struggling schools open and keep the small town alive. To some students, this is disappointing due to the fact that they play many sports. One student said that he and his friends were really disappointed when they heard that there would be no more tennis, baseball, and track since they participate in all three of those. Although the state did say that they would re-consider the decision if they were to see improvements in students test scores across the district.

In my opinion, I don' think that this is the right decision. There are other things that the district can do so that they can keep their sports alive and also have students with higher test score. For example, the district can do what we do here at Pine Ridge. They can put in a system where if a
students is ineligiable if they don't have a passing grade in all of their classes and they student may not play until they raise their grades so that they are passing. That way, if the student really has a passion for the sport, then they will work hard to get their grades up and get back on the field.

Sports are important to schools. They bring in revenue. Since the tickets cost money and items at the consession stand do also. Although this may not be a lot of money, it is still a source of revenue and can help the school in some way. Also, if they were to put in a "pay to play" system like we have here where it is $75 to play your first sport and then a second sport is $25. That way, the school is making money that way too.

Honestly, I think that the schools have such a high truancy rate due to the fact that students grades aren't very high. If the grades were better, you would probably see an increase in school attendance and then from there, see the test scores increase, and then from there, the sports programs stay intact.

Part 2
Here at Pine Ridge, we are not so much as to cutting sport programs as a whole, we are more or less keeping as many as we can active, but having them draw in more revenue with the whole "pay to play" program that I had mentioned earlier. By doing this, we make more money, and students get to play the sport they love. Also, we the rule that you must have a passing grade to be able to participate. If a student is not passing, then they must go to tutoring, raise their grades, and then they can go back to playing the sport.

Instead of cutting out sports, you can cut certain clubs that a lot of people don't participate in. By doing this, you save students and teachers their time and money so that more money can go towards things that students actually participate in. I mean really, how many people actually join and participate in the Earth First Club? If we were to cut those kinds of programs, then money would be saved.

I would apprach it like I just said. By cutting other things that a lot of students aren't active in. So that they fields that the school has put in, don't go to waste and the real clubs/sports that are really a waste and are actually costing the school money to keep, would be cut and have that money go towards more important programs.