High School Spring Sports - Do Coaches Still Get Their Stipends?

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irish_buffalo

Well-known member
Big topic in my area so I'm sure this debate is happening elsewhere. A little background...

My home district decided to pay all of the coaches their full stipend. This district is broke and had a levy just fail. I believe they have only passed one levy over the past 10 years out of about as many tries.

Another district away the board has tabled the idea while they decide. This district is not in as bad of shape but projections do not look good. This is the case for MOST districts in the state due to outside forces. Coaches/teachers are already threatening a grievance.

Being a former coach I can tell you there are coaches out there that are WAY underpaid and others who are in it ONLY for the stipend. Tough call as you have a contract with these coaches who depend on that money yet there was no season and the BOE ultimately answers to the taxpayers which makes it tough to do when deficit spending and projections look worse.
 
 
Millions of Americans were forced out of work by the government. There's absolutely zero excuse for government employees to receive a paycheck right now if they aren't working. Taxpayers are getting screwed.
 
irish_buffalo said:
Big topic in my area so I'm sure this debate is happening elsewhere. A little background...

My home district decided to pay all of the coaches their full stipend. This district is broke and had a levy just fail. I believe they have only passed one levy over the past 10 years out of about as many tries.

Another district away the board has tabled the idea while they decide. This district is not in as bad of shape but projections do not look good. This is the case for MOST districts in the state due to outside forces. Coaches/teachers are already threatening a grievance.

Being a former coach I can tell you there are coaches out there that are WAY underpaid and others who are in it ONLY for the stipend. Tough call as you have a contract with these coaches who depend on that money yet there was no season and the BOE ultimately answers to the taxpayers which makes it tough to do when deficit spending and projections look worse.
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This topic was started on the baseball forum almost as soon as schools and teams were shut down. Without going back to the original thread in the baseball forum IIRC some posters said YES their district was going to continue to pay them their stipend and some certainly said NO. I believe a poster indicate that Minster was one example of a district that said NO.

FWIW in my district in South Carolina since spring sports begin competition much sooner than Ohio and other northern states begin theirs our spring sport coaches saw their stipends continued across the state. When COVID hit SC our baseball and softball teams were I wanna say 5 games??? in to the regular season. We had just hosted a track meet that second full week of March right before we went on lock down.
 
OhioBobcatFan06 said:
Millions of Americans were forced out of work by the government. There's absolutely zero excuse for government employees to receive a paycheck right now if they aren't working. Taxpayers are getting screwed.
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I know you're not going to agree with this (having read many an OhioBobcatFan06 post) but the spring sport coaches basically begin work in the fall and continue on into the winter getting their teams, programs and seasons ready. All while going unpaid for those efforts. So any $$$$ they do get even without an actual spring sport season and essentially paying them for their efforts prior to the spring. Now does that mean EVERY baseball, softball, track coach was putting in work pre-Covid??? Certainly not. Obviously some are going to put in way more than others and some not at all (just picking up the check sort of thing). I mean that'd be pretty horrible to put in hour after hour before March to get your team ready only to be told hey we're not gonna pay you because well COVID.
 
scbuckeye99 said:
I know you're not going to agree with this (having read many an OhioBobcatFan06 post) but the spring sport coaches basically begin work in the fall and continue on into the winter getting their teams, programs and seasons ready. All while going unpaid for those efforts. So any $$$$ they do get even without an actual spring sport season and essentially paying them for their efforts prior to the spring. Now does that mean EVERY baseball, softball, track coach was putting in work pre-Covid??? Certainly not. Obviously some are going to put in way more than others and some not at all (just picking up the check sort of thing). I mean that'd be pretty horrible to put in hour after hour before March to get your team ready only to be told hey we're not gonna pay you because well COVID.
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This is my only argument for them to get paid. I know one track coach who did not hit a lick pre-March 14. I know another track coach who works his butt of all year. Same with a couple baseball coaches I know. When I coached football we would break down what the stipend paid versus the hours we put in and it was pennies. Most coaches, the ones that hustle, are not in it for the money as they are underpaid.

However, I just cannot get past the fact that we are talking a supplemental contract, with taxpayer money, as districts struggle to stay afloat, for services never rendered. This would never happen in the private sector.
 
OhioBobcatFan06 said:
Which is essentially what the government did to every small business owner.
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The spring sports coaches essentially did work for the state for free. Small business owners were getting paid while doing the work, that's the difference. Only coaches know what I'm talking about when I say we work year round but only get paid for those contract months.

Your argument should've been about teachers who coach versus non-teachers who coach. The spring sport coaches who i feel most for are the ones who are not school / district employed who work a regular 9-5 in the private sector, who put in work during the summer, fall and winter only to be told hey yea thanks for doing all that for the school but turns out we're not gonna pay you. That should be your argument.
 
irish_buffalo said:
This is my only argument for them to get paid. I know one track coach who did not hit a lick pre-March 14. I know another track coach who works his butt of all year. Same with a couple baseball coaches I know. When I coached football we would break down what the stipend paid versus the hours we put in and it was pennies. Most coaches, the ones that hustle, are not in it for the money as they are underpaid.

However, I just cannot get past the fact that we are talking a supplemental contract, with taxpayer money, as districts struggle to stay afloat, for services never rendered. This would never happen in the private sector.
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When it comes down to it the average tax payer is forfeiting 5 cents a pay check so these coaches can make $2,000-$3,000 to in some cases work year round.

Guess I'll upset OU some more and tell him my district continued to pay food service workers, bus drivers, custodians and all hourly staff their regular weekly pay even when the state closed down all campuses. Yes, custodians who make 11 / hour were told we'll pay you stay home. Which was a crock for them because they could've made more filing for unemployment. This was one of the reasons schools were told to continue to pay hourly staff in South Carolina. Governor McMaster didn't want to use unemployment on hourly staff statewide when they already had the $$$$ budgeted for the 2019-2020 school year for these people. Sinister? yes. Good call financially for the state? yes as well.
 
OhioBobcatFan06 said:
Which is essentially what the government did to every small business owner.
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Spoke with my college roommate last weekend. He has served as the Director of Economic Development for the city of St. Marys, Ohio the last three years. I asked him point blank have any businesses had to close in St. Marys as a result of COVID? None. 2 months of COVID and not a single shut down. Now this is a town of 8,000 people in a rural community and not metro Ohio but still that's pretty impressive.
 
scbuckeye99 said:
Spoke with my college roommate last weekend. He has served as the Director of Economic Development for the city of St. Marys, Ohio the last three years. I asked him point blank have any businesses had to close in St. Marys as a result of COVID? None. 2 months of COVID and not a single shut down. Now this is a town of 8,000 people in a rural community and not metro Ohio but still that's pretty impressive.
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For now let’s revisit this in six months.
 
scbuckeye99 said:
When it comes down to it the average tax payer is forfeiting 5 cents a pay check so these coaches can make $2,000-$3,000 to in some cases work year round.

Guess I'll upset OU some more and tell him my district continued to pay food service workers, bus drivers, custodians and all hourly staff their regular weekly pay even when the state closed down all campuses. Yes, custodians who make 11 / hour were told we'll pay you stay home. Which was a crock for them because they could've made more filing for unemployment. This was one of the reasons schools were told to continue to pay hourly staff in South Carolina. Governor McMaster didn't want to use unemployment on hourly staff statewide when they already had the $$$$ budgeted for the 2019-2020 school year for these people. Sinister? yes. Good call financially for the state? yes as well.
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Bus drivers, custodians, and EDI are regular employees. In my district they are covered the OPSE union and that is their regular contract. We are talking a supplemental contract here when it comes to extra-curricular stipends. Just saying.

I would not want to be a public school BOE member over the net few years in the State of Ohio.
 
I can only speak from my own experience as a coach at a school that had transportation issues. We did everything we could the entire offseason to give them the best regular season. This meant many trips in our own vehicles taking wrestlers different places all summer long. We'd raise funds to pay for the camps/tournaments/open mats and such but that doesn't reimburse the staffs time or mileage. Just did it for the kids.

Even after getting paid. We'd each lost money overall. But it's all worth it if we were a positive impact on them and their future. So I can see paying the coaches
 
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irish_buffalo said:
Bus drivers, custodians, and EDI are regular employees. In my district they are covered the OPSE union and that is their regular contract. We are talking a supplemental contract here when it comes to extra-curricular stipends. Just saying.

I would not want to be a public school BOE member over the net few years in the State of Ohio.
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There's your difference between Ohio and South Carolina.
 
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irish_buffalo said:
Bus drivers, custodians, and EDI are regular employees. In my district they are covered the OPSE union and that is their regular contract. We are talking a supplemental contract here when it comes to extra-curricular stipends. Just saying.

I would not want to be a public school BOE member over the net few years in the State of Ohio.
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You and I are on the same page.
 
irish_buffalo said:
Bus drivers, custodians, and EDI are regular employees. In my district they are covered the OPSE union and that is their regular contract. We are talking a supplemental contract here when it comes to extra-curricular stipends. Just saying.

I would not want to be a public school BOE member over the net few years in the State of Ohio.
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Because they can be anymore of a rubber-stamping crap-show than they already are?
 
eastisbest said:
Because they can be anymore of a rubber-stamping crap-show than they already are?
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Pretty much. This is a toughy for me because I am a big public school advocate. I believe new teachers do not make enough and often choose to leave the profession in favor of more dollars. I also am a Union supporter but some of these public service Unions need a reboot. Usually they have someone in charge who knew nothing of a Union prior to being thrown into the role and have watched too many movies and have a false sense of how the Union should work. When in the public sector there is no money tree. Teachers used to cut the grass, pick up after a ball game, chalk the lines, wash the uniforms, give lessons on their own dime. Today, for many, it has become nothing more than what you can do for ME.

The party is over, even in districts that used to be considered well funded. The voucher attack will continue and cost districts even more money. Giving hand-outs to friends with taxpayer money will come to a stop as these districts go broke.

I know quiet a few teachers. Not one of them is talking about the voucher problem. Not one (that I know) helps to sell a levy. They do not attend school board meetings. Ask em to work 5 minutes outside of their defined schedule and you will get a grievance. I understand this is not the norm for ALL teachers, and you do have plenty that care, but the ones I know have sat on their butts for the last 2 1/2 months collecting a full paycheck, some stimulus money, and now are crying foul because they will not get their stipend for a season that never occurred. That is tough to swallow for anyone from the private sector AND who is a district taxpayer.
 
irish_buffalo said:
Pretty much. This is a toughy for me because I am a big public school advocate. I believe new teachers do not make enough and often choose to leave the profession in favor of more dollars. I also am a Union supporter but some of these public service Unions need a reboot. Usually they have someone in charge who knew nothing of a Union prior to being thrown into the role and have watched too many movies and have a false sense of how the Union should work. When in the public sector there is no money tree. Teachers used to cut the grass, pick up after a ball game, chalk the lines, wash the uniforms, give lessons on their own dime. Today, for many, it has become nothing more than what you can do for ME.

The party is over, even in districts that used to be considered well funded. The voucher attack will continue and cost districts even more money. Giving hand-outs to friends with taxpayer money will come to a stop as these districts go broke.

I know quiet a few teachers. Not one of them is talking about the voucher problem. Not one (that I know) helps to sell a levy. They do not attend school board meetings. Ask em to work 5 minutes outside of their defined schedule and you will get a grievance. I understand this is not the norm for ALL teachers, and you do have plenty that care, but the ones I know have sat on their butts for the last 2 1/2 months collecting a full paycheck, some stimulus money, and now are crying foul because they will not get their stipend for a season that never occurred. That is tough to swallow for anyone from the private sector AND who is a district taxpayer.
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I don't disagree.

As a taxpayer what are your feelings on Shake Shack (a publicly traded company who has a market cap of 2.1 billion dollars, who has seen their stock value almost double since March 16th when COVID unleashed itself, and oh by the way on April 21st filed for a SBL after their stock value at that point had gone up 15 points, and then ACTUALLY received a 10 million dollar loan from the feds!!!!)???? I'm sure you can sense my feelings on the matter ;-).
 
Zunardo said:
My wife and I talked about that when the schools first closed. I just stepped down from our BOE in December after 12 years. Glad I didn't try for a fourth term.
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My local school board still hasn't addressed the potholes around town. Now they're asking for another levy when all the schools need to do is fix the roads and it'd save a ton on bus maintenance.
 
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