Athletic Coach stipends for Teachers

[Jimmy Nichols]

Originally Posted by Alpha Beta

I remember several years ago our district was forced to make budget cuts, and reduction in stipend sizes as well as number of assistants was on the table. When I went in to meet with the administration they looked at what they were paying us versus the time commitment and said they just couldn't bring themselves to reduce it anymore. We were already disproportionately under appreciated fiscally.

As money began to flow back into our district, and athletic stipends returned to their normal levels, we knew it was time to pitch athletic stipend status to the school district. I work with a terrific administrator at Lee's Summit West High School, and he worked for years on our behalf to finalize a budget that leveled the playing field. This year we have 1 head coach and 2 assistant coach stipends at the same level as the soccer program. (Coaching stipends are tiered based on the number of assistant coaches. The number of assistants is set based on the number of kids in the program.)

There were several points that helped us in our quest.

1. The administration was already on our side. The team brings great prestige to our school, and community. We took a cooperative stance instead of an adversarial one. The coaches affirmed their dedication to the program even if the district proved unable to improve the stipends. At no time did we threaten to walk out.

2. We made a plea for the future. Our coaching staff will one day retire. With the old stipend it never made sense financially for a young teacher to choose to coach robotics if any other athletic stipend was available. Even if they had a passion for the program the money versus time commitment was out of balance, and spousal pressure often forced them towards another option. To highlight this we mentioned our team had 4 different head coaches in our first 4 years.

3. We have tremendous community support. The local newspaper loves to print articles about the team. Local businesses open up internships, contribute financially to the program, and show up at tournaments. There are very few programs that compete with football for bringing a community together. Robotics brings that kind of passion to a different skill set. (A broader population, but not necessarily a different one. You can be an athlete and an engineer.)

Team Titanium, FRC 1986

I wish we had that kind of support in our area. With so many corporate HQ's in the area for big name companies (P&G, GE, Kroger, etc.) and we are not able to garner that kind of support.

Several years ago we proposed stipends and was told it would have to be posted openly and there was risk that someone with more seniority could get awarded the position that was not a teacher working with the team, so we decided against it.

Since then we lost our space at the school and have had very minimal support when it comes from the local High School's and District Administration.

The kids are determined to change this and this year we have another teacher on board, so we have high hopes for strengthening the relationship with the school district.