By Jamie Kelleher
Staff Writer
In the past two years, MBX has become a district crutch. MBX is a great source of support for difficult financial demands, but the district should not become completely reliant on the organization for all sport and extracurricular-related expenses.
MBX is a non-profit organization that reimburses the district for expenses related to school connected organizations (SCOs), commonly known as booster clubs. MBX functions similarly to a bank, depositing the money made from all SCOs on initiatives such as summer school, yearly donations, banquet tickets, transportation and merchandise, but without charging interest. Additionally, MBX serves as an information source for SCOs via its board of booster club presidents.
MBX reimburses the Manhattan Beach School District for coach stipends or time spent coaching outside of the coach’s contract. The set rate for stipends, negotiated between the Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers’ Association and MBUSD, is $38/hour.
To help cover the costs of coach stipends, parents are asked to donate to the team’s booster club, which transfers the money to MBX. Donation suggestions generally range from $250 to $800 per extracurricular.According to MBX Preisdent Gary Wayland, MBX is having an increasingly difficult time raising the money. MBUSD should fund coach stipends to relieve the financial pressure placed on these booster clubs and the families who are asked to donate.
According to Wayland, these donations can also create tension within a parent-coach relationship, as many parents believe that they should be able to dictate the coach’s decisions regarding their child’s playing time and team level because they are paying part of the coach’s salary. This feeling of entitlement creates an unhealthy environment for teams and puts pressure on SCO presidents to resolve these issues.
Nancy Sturm, Aquatics SCO president, and Cynthia McMahon, track SCO president, spoke to the MBUSD Board of Trustees at the March 5 meeting, requesting that the district resume paying coach stipends. According to McMahon, this action is necessary because the current system places coaches in awkward positions and instills a feeling of parental entitlement.
For example, after a student was cut from the track team, her parent contacted McMahon complaining that this was unfair because she had already made a sizable donation to the track program. This could be avoided if MBUSD funded the stipends, rather than parents.
According to MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews, the past six years have been financially challenging for the district, and the district relies on these parent donations to limit MBUSD budget cuts. At the Board meeting, MBX President Ed McKeegan asked that the district assume some of MBX’s current costs now that the finances of both the school and state have improved. Matthews claims that MBX’s concerns are valid and that the district will consider the request in the future.
Although the district no longer has the significant funding issues that prevented it from paying the coach stipends in the past, it has decided to prioritize other budget issues. Now that the district can afford to take on this financial responsibility, it should discontinue its reliance on MBX.
The district should accept MBX’s request to fund coach stipends to ease its financial burden and eliminate the entitled attitude of players and parents.
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