WIAA Schools to Monitor Gifts
What oversight should schools have over extra pay from booster club.
By Coaching Management Staff
It's not surprising that Bellevue (Wash.) High School's booster club pays Head Football Coach Butch Goncharoff an annual supplement to his coaching stipend—after all, Goncharoff's teams have won five Washington 3A state championships in the past six years. What is surprising, though, is the amount: $55,000 per year. And even more surprising is that, until recently, the Bellevue school district had no idea about Goncharoff's additional compensation.
The matter caught the attention of the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA), which is now looking to make sure local school boards remain in the loop on booster club payouts. In December, the WIAA Executive Board passed a proposal that would require boosters to get approval from their school's board of directors for any stipends or gifts offered to coaches. Member schools statewide will vote on the rule in April, and if it passes, it will take effect starting with the 2007-08 school year.
The rule's supporters are concerned that booster clubs may believe they are buying influence when they write checks to coaches. "This proposal is about defining who the coach really works for," says Mike Colbrese, Executive Director of the WIAA. "The answer is the school district. But if a booster club is paying a coach 10 times what the school is, who is he going to feel he answers to?"
Indeed, Goncharoff's $55,000 booster club stipend dwarfs the $5,753 he received last year from the school district. The proposed rule would not prevent boosters from making such a payment, but it would make sure the school has a chance to approve or deny it. "Schools boards should know how much coaches are making. It's that simple," Colbrese says.
Beyond giving boosters too much power, there are several other reasons why a school district needs to know coaches' full compensation. For one, schools could be violating Title IX if the coaches of boys' teams receive more money than the coaches of girls' teams. There could also be ramifications for coaches who are unionized.
"Many of our state's coaches are members of a union, and some individual schools have their own coaching unions," Colbrese explains. "Obviously, members of those groups have an interest in knowing what other coaches are making. The ones who aren't getting the extra money are going to demand some kind of equal opportunity."
A survey of the state's athletic administrators conducted late last year by the WIAA found that about 80 percent of respondents favor a rule giving schools oversight of booster clubs, and Colbrese says the opposition comes mainly from those who fear a slippery slope. "A few people have asked whether this rule could be the tip of the iceberg," he says. "They worry that at some point the association may start making rules about booster club support of other things, like marching bands and debate programs, and they ask if that's a direction we should be heading in.
"But I don't see it as being about the WIAA regulating more areas," Colbrese continues. "It's about making sure local school boards have control of what's happening in their athletic programs."
The WIAA's proposal closely mirrors a rule already in place across the border in Oregon. According to Brad Garrett, Assistant Executive Director of the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), his state's rule ensures each school has a transparent money trail for athletics. "Our policy stipulates that any donation in support of an athletic program must be given directly to the school administration, so school officials can control where it goes and how it's used," says Garrett. "We greatly appreciate and encourage booster activities and anything else people want to do to benefit high school athletics. We just want to make sure they're doing it the right way and out in the open."
While the rule has been in place for years, Garrett says he can't recall the OSAA ever having to sanction a school for violating it. "I think it's clear to everyone in our state what the proper procedures are, and it's certainly in the schools' best interest to make sure they're being followed," he says. "Every school should know where its athletic funding is coming from and where it's going. "
