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Questions continue mounting over the cost and the need for a student athlete sports program at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, months after the launch of the district’s Universal Sports Institute last fall.
The concerns keep popping up as officials publicly said this month they spent roughly $4 million in two years on a program that currently serves about 100 kids and have already cut program staff due to the district spending more money on it than its bringing in.
Taylor Holloway, the program’s director, said at a meeting earlier this month that the district has spent about $2.85 million this year on the program which brought in roughly $1.36 million in revenue – a deficit of about $1.5 million that is forcing them to look at more cuts.
“A significant investment has been made to implement this pathway,” she said at the Feb. 11 school board meeting. “We have made preliminary staffing reductions, which took place in January. Additional staffing reductions have been identified, which will be finalized based on the enrollment at USI for the next school year.”
The program is currently serving roughly 100 kids – about a third of them coming from outside Placentia-Yorba Linda district. 22,500 students were enrolled in the district in the 2023-24 school year.
The district’s facing a $27 million deficit as it grapples with $363 million in total revenue and about $390 million in expenditures, according to the district’s 2024-25 budget.
According to a presentation from district staff, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified spent nearly $1.6 million on salaries so far in the 2024-25 school year.
Sports consultants at USI are paid $50 per hour, according to the same presentation.
Trustee Tricia Quintero noted at the meeting that head coaches in the district are paid a nearly $5,300 stipend per season, while Trustee Todd Frazier chimed in that this varies depending on the sport.
Seasons can vary in exact length depending on a given team’s success, however, the California Interscholastic Federation divides them into three periods of four months in the Fall, Winter and Spring.
Quintero also added that these figures need to be “reevaluated.”
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified Officials did not respond to email requests for comment about the Universal Sports Program.
Proponents of the program, dubbed the Universal Sports Institute, argue it offers families an alternative choice when it comes to their children’s education – something that will attract students at a time when public school enrollment is seeing a decline across the country.
“Kids are so happy to be there. And they just like, love the program,” said Trustee Leandra Blades at the Feb. 11 meeting “It’s also turning them on to other sports.”
Critics say the program is a waste of money and only serves a small fraction of students enrolled in the district.
“The USI program, as presented tonight by its staunchest advocates, is hemorrhaging money,” said resident David Radlauer at the Feb. 11 meeting. “Maybe we need to start thinking about an exit strategy. This program is not working. We change it more often than I change my socks.”
The Universal Sports Institute Debate
Trustee Carrie Buck said the program is taking much-needed money from other places in the district and the institute should service students district wide, not just at a few schools.
“We have invested a lot of money in this program, and when you calculate out just the $2.8 million expenditures from 2024-25 with 93 students, that’s $30,000 per student, and that is way above what we get and way above what we spend for students in other programs,” she said at the Feb. 11 meeting.
Buck also questioned if this was the full picture of the program’s finances.
Blades said the program needs to be better promoted, adding that Board President Marilyn Anderson has attacked the program in campaign mailers.
“When you send out mailers to households in your district it doesn’t make USI appear to be a good program. It almost demonizes the program,” Blades said at the Feb. 11 meeting.
Blades also said the district should promote the program like they promote other alternative education programs like the Parkview, an independent-study school, and Buena Vista Virtual Academy – an online school.
“These are the programs people are transitioning to, we’re losing a lot of kids out of public education and going elsewhere,” she said.“We may have to invest a little extra money, but it is investing in our students and our athletes. And so I think it’s completely worth it.”
The February discussion came after a shift in the school board’s dynamic following last year’s election and after district officials voted behind closed doors in December to place Superintendent Alex Cherniss, who pushed for the sports program, on paid administrative leave.
It also comes as public education officials throughout Orange County struggle with dwindling federal COVID bailout funds and declining enrollment at public schools across OC and the country leading Santa Ana Unified officials to lay off nearly 300 teachers and staff at the end of the current school year.
[Read: Santa Ana School District to Lay Off Nearly 300 Teachers and Staff]
A New Athletics-Based School Program
The program started last fall for students in Grades 3-12 with the aim of retaining and bringing in more students as well as providing specialized athletic training opportunities for students.
Holloway said the program is attracting students from outside the school district.
“When we first opened this past fall, we had roughly 70 students committed to this pathway, new students joined throughout the first semester, with 97 students currently participating, 30% of which are students coming from out of the district,” she said at the Feb. 11 school board meeting.
There were around 22,500 students enrolled in the district in the 2023-24 school year.
“Our hope is that enrollment will reach somewhere between 150 and 200 students for the start of the next school year,” Holloway continued.
She also said the main training hub for the program is located at the Orange County School of Computer Science – a district affiliated charter school – with satellite locations at Yorba Linda High School, El Dorado High School and Venture Academy.
Officials are expected to have another discussion on the sports program at the March meeting.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
Rubén Montoya is a Voice of OC intern. You can reach him at rubenmontoya47@outlook.com or on Twitter @Rmontoya47.
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