SVHS
falcons
Call to Action!
SVHS is the ONLY High School in the COUNTY that receives NO financial support from bonds or State funds.
FALCON GIVING
“Your generous gift directly impacts student lives by giving our scholar athletes an opportunity to become champions."
"One Spirit, One Team,
Falcons Strong."
— Denise Hitzeman, Falcon Club President
Participation Contributions ... why donate?
Participation Contributions Financial Report
Participation Donations are requested by the SVUSD. These 'donations' are the cornerstone of keeping athletics available at Scotts Valley High School. These contributions, when broken down by sport seldom pay for the team's coaching staff. Falcon Club makes up for these deficits by putting together fundraising events such as our Membership drive, Golf and Poker Tournaments, and other fun events.
As a former Falcon Club board member and a parent of SVHS athletes since 2003 (that makes me feel old), I know all too well of the need for this financial support from each athlete’s family.
I cannot overstate the financial burden that has been placed on the athletic program by our district. SVHS gets virtually zero funding for sports programs, uniforms, equipment, officials, coaches stipends, etc. from our district and our sports programs are primarily funded through donations and fundraisers.
Several years ago, someone at a pay grade above mine said that we can no longer call it a “participation fee” and instead had to call it a “participation donation.” This change made it sound to many people that this was now an optional thing. In my humble opinion, the $200 per player per sport is not an option.
Without this financial support from each and every family, sports programs are at risk of being greatly diminished or even disappearing from SVHS.
For anyone who has not yet sent in their participation contribution, I urge you to get it in before the end of the season. This financial support for our kids and sports is a critical part of fielding teams at SVHS.
Thanks for taking a minute to read this.
Peter Hartman
Neighboring School districts are subsidising their AFTER School Sports Programs with Parcel Taxes
"Revenue Limit " vs "Basic Aid (Excess tax)" Districts
Some districts take in more property taxes than their revenue limit; they were able not only to meet the revenue limit of $5,400 per pupil but also had some property taxes left over (as represented by the light blue section in the second bar). These districts were called “basic aid” or “excess tax” districts. In 2010–11, 125 districts enrolling 5 percent of California students had excess taxes totaling approximately $600 million, up to an excess of $30,000 per pupil.
Scotts Valley Unified School District is a Revenue Limit District.
Starting in 2013–14, revenue limits and half of categorical aid will instead be distributed through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). This formula provides an average of about $7,500 per pupil in base funding for all students, although this base rate varies by grade level. On top of this base funding, districts receive an additional 20 percent of the base for each disadvantaged student and even more funding if more than 55 percent of students in the district are disadvantaged. Like the revenue limit system, the district’s property taxes will first be applied toward the LCFF entitlement, and then state aid will fill any gap between the entitlement and property taxes.
Districts with parcel taxes, which are characteristics typically associated with a winning situation; and the additional local revenue of these districts may help cushion their transition to a new, statewide funding formula that helps simplify, and hopefully improve, the school finance system in California.
Public Policy Institute of California
San Francisco, CA
Unfortunately, Scotts Valley does not receive extra 20% funding, nor any other additional revenue from property taxes.
Measure O was passed in Santa Cruz at 71% in November of 2015
Measure O text: "To better prepare local middle and high school students for college and career success, Santa Cruz City High School District preserve instructional and after-school programs in Career Technical Education, science, technology, engineering and performing arts, and support athletic programs to keep kids safe, healthy and engaged in school, by establishing a parcel tax of $72 per year for 8 years only, with exemptions for senior citizens, independent citizen oversight, and all funds benefitting local middle and high schools."
Which means, Scotts Valley School District is now the only district that does
NOT pay their coach's stipends.
Your Team Participation Donations:
A team's budget is made up of three parts:
-
1) For each participant who donates $185 the team receives $60. Take the number of player donations for a team x $60.00 = Team money.
2) Team fundraisers -- 100% fundraised by a team goes to the team. An example of how these funds can be used is the football team's Texas trip.
3) Direct payment by families -- this includes money families pay for things such as personal spirit wear etc.
The total of these 3 components are the amount a team has available to buy special uniforms, equipment, transportation, go to out of county tournaments such as the football team's Texas trip, pay for banquets, awards and so much more.
Where does the remainder of the participation donation go?
$125.00 is used to cover the fixed expenses such as, personelle (Coaches, assistant coaches, sports trainer), referees, officials, and League fees, plus equipment, uniforms, SCCAL League games, CCS Tournament Fees, and CIF State Championships. These expenses add up to over $200,000.00 per year and We are the ONLY high school that is paying 100% for its after school sports programs.
SVHS averages about 500 athletes paying their participation donation, which raises only $62,500, less than half of what we pay the SVUSD each year for our athletics program.
In order to raise the rest, the Falcon Club holds fundraisers throughout the year. The proceeds from these fundraisers support ALL of the athletic programs at SVHS and are a critical component of keeping sports alive at SVHS.
The largest part of the Falcon Club’s fundraising efforts is the participation donations received from every team.
We sincerely thank the parents and supporters who faithfully make their participation donation each season; our athletic program would not exist without you! The Falcon Club is a 501.c.3 organization; as such your participation donation, and other donations you may make to your athlete’s team or to the Club are tax deductible.
Where your money goes
Survival of athletics at SVHS depends 100% on the support of our Parents and Community.
“In general, an athlete is not smarter than a nonathlete...But I would argue, and I think our evidence suggests, that just having such a policy shows the student they need to take their studies seriously if they want to compete.”
"...participation is important. Whether it’s learning time management or handling expectations from someone in their life like coaches, teammates or family members, athletes are learning discipline,”
The study compared academic performance of athletes and non-athletes between boys and girls and between white and minority students. In each measure athletes had higher academic performance than nonathletes.
“Involvement in interscholastic sports has a positive impact on high school students as suggested by previous research and corroborated by this study. As such, participation should be encouraged,”... “The potential for sport participation to improve graduation rates, keep students in school longer and increase daily attendance should lead administrators to adamantly support interscholastic sport.”
Female high school athletes are:
1. 92% less likely to get involved with drugs
2. 80% less likely to get pregnant
3. 3 times more likely to graduate than non-athletes
(Womens Sports Foundation)
High school athletes:
* make higher grades
* get into less trouble
* graduate at a higher rate
* drop out less often
* have higher GPAs than non-athletes
“The evidence supporting sports participation for young people is overwhelming...It has the power to combat everything from racism to low self-image, to the high-school drop-out rate." (Sue Castle, Executive Producer of PBS Sports: Get in the Game).