School Athletics: Today's Students May Grow Up Less Healthy Than Their Parents

Will our children get Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure or cancer earlier in their lives than the generations before them?

In 2005, things were looking bad. In 2011, researchers are reporting improvements.

On Thursday, the state Department of Education released than those countywide and statewide. Roughly 76 percent were deemed fit.

But which way will the tide turn as Castro Valley High School implements the ? Funding for athletics was cut in half for the 2009-2010 school year and eliminated altogether this year.

“It’s a really worrisome situation, obviously,” said Mike Bush, head of the school district’s finances, during a school board meeting on Thursday night.

The trustees discussed at length the options and complications of running a $240,000 athletic program on donations alone, reported a surprisingly positive response from parents, and fretted over the only recourse they can see at present. 

“We really do need to work on increasing donations and ,” said Jim Negri, superintendent.

The one bright spot: parents.

The district this year doubled the voluntary parent donation for each student-athlete from $150 to a sliding scale of $225 to $325. 

The surprising response: More parents this year than last year dug into their own family’s reserves and paid up. Participation in the voluntary donation program was 46 percent last year and 51 percent this year.

“We’re still falling short of our budget,” Negri said. He added that staff time is spent monitoring the collection of some 1,000 checks, including from families who said they couldn’t pay all at once but would follow an installment plan.

The school board and district staff spent part of the discussion relating their personal chagrin over the:

• prospect of cutting entire teams and programs, and the difficulty of deciding which would get to travel on school district buses versus car-pooled
• legal conundrum of preserving equity between girls and boys teams in the event that one team raised all the money it needed and another didn’t
• potential stigma placed on families or privately felt by families that couldn’t contribute
• overall economy’s continuing to sap all budgets everywhere, including families’ and small businesses, let alone government-funded and nonprofit organizations

Last year, the nonprofit Castro Valley Sports Foundation donated $26,500 to the high school athletic department, Patch reader Lowell Hickey added Saturday morning in the comments box below this article. "That was 10 percent of the entire athletic budget," he said.

To make a donation, make checks payable to either Castro Valley High School or the Castro Valley Unified School District, and remember to write a note on the check saying it’s for the athletic program. 

Castro Valley Unified School District, 4400 Alma Ave, Castro Valley, CA 94546

Castro Valley High School 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546