Administrators at the Westbrook School Department recently sent the following letter to the executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association, Richard Durost, on behalf of the Westbrook School Committee. The letter was prompted by recent proposals from the Maine Principals’ Association to cut athletic costs. Among other things, the proposals included reducing the number of athletic events and length of some seasons and withdrawing from out-of-state New England competitions.

I am writing to request you share this correspondence with the Maine Principals’ Association Interscholastic Management Committee prior to their Jan. 26, 2009, meeting scheduled to discuss the recent Ad Hoc Committee recommendations on Athletic Costs.

As superintendent of schools, I am compelled to relay that the Westbrook School Committee, Westbrook High School administrators and the greater Westbrook community at large strongly oppose this proposal. Further, we do not believe any of these recommendations are beneficial to the student-athletes of Westbrook. We do not advocate a “one size fits all” approach to difficult budget reductions as the optimal method to achieve the desired goal of educational savings across our state.

Recently, we had a significant curtailment of funds from the Maine Department of Education. Westbrook reduced our athletic costs by over $32,000 for the remainder of this school year. If there are additional cuts to education, the Westbrook School Committee and administration are in the best position to determine where those cuts should occur. Your proposal is not the most effective way to address the financial issues we are facing in school sports. On the contrary, we strongly believe that your approach will not find much savings, if any.

As an educational leader, you have stated several times in the past 16 months “one size does not fit all” with respect to recent consolidation efforts by the commissioner of education. Yet, it appears that is actually what you, the Ad Hoc Committee on Athletic Cuts and the Interscholastic Management Committee will achieve if you implement these recommended cuts. Please do not disregard Maine’s storied history in public education and local control. What may appear to be a sound economical decision for the communities of Aroostook County may indeed cost the communities of Southern Maine significant revenues, and vice versa. As you are aware, Maine public school systems are controlled by local citizens who serve as elected officials. I submit these individuals are the ones who need to be responsible for making necessary adjustments to their local budgets.

I applaud the Maine Principals’ Association’s recent decision making process in regard to recent issues to include open tournament play, public/private school competition, and most recently, the relocation of basketball tournaments to Augusta and Portland. These processes were well thought out and allowed for adequate feedback from all parties affected. Unfortunately, this process of proposed athletic cuts is the exact opposite: short sighted, rushed and without sufficient input and feedback. Without question, the 15-member Ad Hoc Committee and the nine members of the Interscholastic Management Committee must play a strategic role in navigating all Maine Principals’ Association member schools through this process thoughtfully and equitably. However, it is my belief the entire 155-member schools of the Maine Principals’ Association should be allowed a chance to discuss this issue, determine the final proposal and vote on the ultimate decision.

To that end, I respectfully request you schedule and convene several statewide open forums for school officials, coaches, parents, athletes and community members. Additionally, I encourage you to reconvene the Ad Hoc Committee on Athletic Costs and establish several working sessions with the goal of producing a platform that can ultimately be voted upon by each member school. In support of this process, I recommend you revisit the makeup of this committee (presently two-thirds of the committee is from eastern Maine) to ensure equity and greater balance of east/west and the representation across Maine Principals’ Association classifications.

Our conference, the Southwestern Maine Athletic Association, along with the Western Maine Conference, have already begun a collaborative process of examining all of our operating procedures and have identified several areas where we can work together to save our communities money and resources. I believe if given the opportunity, all athletic conferences across our state would reciprocate. Without question, this process in and of itself will realize more savings than the presently proposed Maine Principals’ Association cost reductions.

In closing, it is my desire that you, your committees, and in the whole, the Maine Principals’ Association table the present recommendations submitted by the Ad Hoc Committee on Athletic Savings in support of a regionalized approach to this issue. I fear that if you continue to advocate for this proposal, as presently structured, it will result in significant and irreparable damage to our athletic departments, communities, and ultimately our student athletes. Please consider the ramifications of any/all decisions connected to this issue and reflect upon the direction in which you are headed.

Stan Sawyer is Westbrook school superintendent.