Extra Effort Needed to Find Dollars for Extracurriculars in SD159

Talent show. A fishing club. Outdoor programs. As it stands today, all of these extracurricular activities — and many more — won't be financially supported by District 159 when the next school year opens this fall.

The situation has some parents and other stakeholders in the district worried about the loss of funding for such activities, and thinking about ways to rectify the situation in tight budget times and during a difficult economic moment.

"The only extracurriculars for the 2011-2012 school are student support services," said Mokena District 159 Superintendent Karen Perry, referring to academic assistance efforts.

Perry said she wants to keep the programs and clubs running, perhaps through partnerships with the park district or private organizations.

"It'd be wonderful if an outside organization could take on the angler's club," she said.

Nothing is solidified on that front, however, and there are challenges to relying on outside groups to steer such efforts. For example, if outside groups require a fee for participation, Perry noted, that could exclude students who can't afford to pay.

Meanwhile, a key community initiative mounted to support District 159 extracurriculars during the current school year isn't likely to be replicated for the 2011-2012 session.

Bob Garcia, treasurer of the Mokena Educational Foundation, said a quartet made up of his organization, the PTA, the athletic boosters and the music boosters has raised around $155,000 for such programming since March of last year, disbursing $130,000 to the district. 

While the four groups will continue with their separate areas of focus, the collective fund-raising effort, which included a car wash, a dine-out night and a bowling event, among others, is likely over.

"We said to the district we didn't want this to be an ongoing thing," Garcia said. "It was no easy thing to raise $155,000.

"It's not like we have another $155,000 sitting around we can commit. We'd have to go raise it again. If we fell short, it would affect the district directly."

Mike Ford, newly elected to the Board of Education, expressed hope that some level of support for extracurricular programming could be brought back. He said the extras cost around $185,000. But ensuring an outlay of extracurriculars, he said, was contingent on examining the district's budget "line-by-line" to see what is financially possible.

"I think everything has to be on the table. You just have to go through and analyze," he said.

Board member Patrick Markham, meanwhile, said extracurricular programming was an important part of offering a "full" educational experience in Mokena schools. He said he would focus on finding money for such activities and dealing with increased bus fees, which he described as a hardship for many families.

"I believe it's still an open topic," he said of the cuts to extracurriculars slated for the next school year.