CIRCLEVILLE – At the Pine Bush Central School District Board of Education Meeting on May 25, Superintendent Phil Steinberg gave a presentation on the topic of Booster Clubs that fundraise for school sports.

"The way to go," said Steinberg, "is to create a Booster Club for Modified Sports. But we, the School District, can't organize it or run it. That has to be taken care of by the parents or others outside the district."

"We've put together a cut down program for Modified Sports, just Modified B Sports — that means, no freshman program — and that would cost $100,000 for 14 teams."

The teams would be baseball, softball, football, field hockey, boys and girls cross country, boys track, girls track, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, wrestling, and volleyball.

"It's important to recognize that whatever we do has to be compliant with Title IX, that's a Federal requirement, so that we have gender equity. That means if we have wrestling, we have to have volleyball, or another sport, for girls."

The rules regarding booster club organizations are strict. A booster club must have official board approval, and may not discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, color, national origin, ethnic background, disability, religion or arbitrary criteria.

One thing that Steinberg stressed, as he fielded questions from some concerned parents, was the complications of having more than a single booster club.

"We don't want twenty different booster clubs all trying to raise money for one sport each. That would lead to chaos."

Roseanne Sullivan, Vice President of the Board of Education, pressed on that point. "Who decides which sport gets reinstated?"

Steinberg said, "That would come from a conversation between the District and the Booster Club. There are many plateaus, say at $25,000 raised, or $50,000 raised, and at those points there would need to be discussion of what teams to put back."

Steinberg explained that one reason the cost of this kind of Modified Sports program had come down from earlier estimates was that "it would not be run by an Athletic Director. We can put somebody in charge of this, hired specifically and part-time to supervise this. There's a big savings there."

However, it would be a real modified program, albeit only for Middle School students, playing against teams from other schools.

Asked about scheduling problems, because it is now later than usual for putting a team into a schedule for the fall sports, Steinberg was upbeat.

"Pine Bush was in, and things are still a bit fluid. We don't know what Minisink will do, since their budget was voted down. So, I think we will be able to schedule the fall sports, if we have a Booster Club and it raises enough money."

Roseanne Sullivan raised another important point. "What about the coaches, and their certification. Wouldn't they have to be officially certified?"

Steinberg agreed. "They would be certified coaches and everything would be run by the school district. The money would be donated to the district, by the Booster Club, and we would then hire the coaches and supervisor of the program."

Arlene Cooper, a parent with a strong interest in having a modified program, brought up another point.

"On so-called pay-to-play, I have seen that several states in the south, like North Carolina, have instituted pay-to-play. Students pay to play in the teams. They have to be good enough, of course, to make the team."

John Jay Anthony, President of the Board, explained that it would take "legislation by Albany to make pay for play available in New York."

As of now, the practice is banned in the state.

Steinberg added, "As things evolve in the future, this may come. It's the rule at private school already. Who knows what changes we will see?"