Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts

Thursday, October 29, 2009

CVHS v. YVHS *IS* Wells Fargo's GAME OF THE WEEK

Over 53,000 votes cast! Fabulous showing of school spirit and pride in MDUSD Sports!

Congratulations to both schools! Good luck at the game!



Tuesday, October 27, 2009

VOTE now for MDUSD Sports!

I was notified there is a very important vote going on today in support of some local sports!!! No, not JUST the school board meeting tonight whereas the board will be voting whether or not to continue sports... but for KTVU's Game of the Week! Ygnacio Valley High vs. Clayton Valley High is competing against other local teams for the honor. As of 10am this morning only about 30 votes separate 1st and 2nd place, and that is out of over 8000 total votes so far...

Vote for YVHS vs CVHS as KTVU's game of the week and each school could earn $500. Here's the link:

http://www.ktvu.com/sportsfocus/index.html

The local game is TIED with another game so vote early and often as they say!

And, if you'd like to see the board meeting discussion tonight where fundraising efforts will be recapped and the continuation of sports will be voted on, see the links on the right sidebar where you can be routed to tonight's agenda, and link to where you can watch it all happen live. Or go to http://www.mdusd.net/.


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Friday, October 16, 2009

Save Our Sports 5k and Campus Clean Up Day at CVHS


Looking for a couple of great ways to get involved in your local school community this weekend? For supporters of Clayton Valley High School, they are inviting students, parents, neighbors, everyone to come take part in the Campus Clean-Up Day this Sunday, October 18th starting at noon. Check out CVHS's website for more details HERE.

And, if you have atheletes in your home, even if they're not in high school yet, did you know that the District sports program is in very real jeopardy? Please come out and support Sports in our district, also on Sunday, October 18th for the UMDAF (United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation), 5k Walk/Run at Newhall Park in Concord. Details can be found on the UMDAF website HERE.

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Measure D: New Website, Volunteers needed and 30 days left!


With less than 30 days left until the May 19th election, now, more than ever the MDUSD Measure D campaign needs your help. Can you spend an hour to walk to particular homes in your neighborhood? How about some time making some calls? Any time you can devote is appreciated and will aid in making this Measure a huge , resounding YES for our kids!

Also, next week Tuesday, April 28, Wednesday 4/29, and Thursday 4/30 is a fundraiser at ROCCO's Pizza in Walnut Creek (Oak Grove at Ygnacio near Safeway/Applebees). Just mention Measure D and proceeds will go toward supporting this campaign to restore quality programs to our schools!


A new website for YES on Measure D has been unveiled this week. Mt. Diablo School District has cut over 15 million just this year! More may be coming. Measure D will yield upwards of 7 million dollars per year. This 7 million dollars stays local, and can not be taken away by the state to cure their budget problems. Vote Yes on May 19th for Mt. Diablo School District's Measure D.




MDUSD's Measure D requires a 2/3 voter majority and we can do it with your help!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Parent Editorial: Sports and the Parcel Tax - "...no plan, no guarantees and if the Parcel Tax does or doesn’t pass, we may not get sports back"

Below is a parent letter, an open letter to the board and to our community. If you have something you'd like to share, please feel free to comment, or email mdusdparents@gmail.com to get your letter posted here.

Update 6pm, the Contra Costa Times just posted the following article: Mt. Diablo School District Parents confused about the future of sports . Check it out. There is also an email circulating today to urge sports families to attend the board meeting tonight. Sports for next year is already cut. Sports are not on the agenda tonight. I hope they remain organized and use this energy toward the passage of Measure D and the prioritization of what programs to restore when it passes. Behind the scenes, district personnel are working to determine the "pay to play" and parent funded athletic options. We should hear more soon.

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Dear Mt. Diablo School District Board,

I have 3 students in the Mt. Diablo School District, I have been very supportive of our schools and have contributed significantly as PTA President, and auditor for several years, as well as doing the yearbook, helping in classrooms, with graduations, etc. I stay well informed and keep in close touch with many of our teachers. That being said, I was quite surprised when last Tuesday I heard of the boards decision to cut all Athletics from our high schools. I learned of this from my son who was told by a friend on his Concord High Football team. Once I began to research I found that there were very few people aware that this cut was scheduled to be done at the March 3 board meeting, as I realize the sports program has been on the cuts list since November, I was not under the impression that it had come to that point yet. No one I spoke to had any idea this cut had occurred, one day after the board meeting.

Since the day I found out about the cut I have been relentlessly trying to figure out what was going on and figure out why no one was talking about this, why did no one know about it? I Sent emails, talked to people, the only information I could get was... we have to pass the parcel tax. Great, I signed up to support that, without hesitation. But then with further research I realized, that the Parcel Tax does not speak to sports anywhere in the verbiage, but it does speak to art and music. So tonight still trying to piece all the facts together, I attended the Concord High Boosters meeting to hear what Sherry Whitmarsh could tell us, (thank you for coming Sherry), what I took away from that meeting is, there really is no plan, no guarantees and if the Parcel Tax does or doesn’t pass, we may not get sports back. So what are our options, we ask? Well, there is no option for pay to play and there doesn’t seem to be any real handle on whether or not the Boosters could fund the sports programs, there may be legal issues involved. Which brings to question, why if Water Polo is a self funded sport and can continue, why couldn’t football be a self funded sport and continue? And how much money is really needed to continue the sports programs, the $721,400, seems to be somewhat of a questionable amount, does it include the money raised by sports such as football gate fees and transportation? In order for the parents and Booster Clubs to know what we are up against if the Parcel Tax doesn’t pass (or even if it does), we need to know what our options are.

I think this was the first time that the people in the Boosters and parents in general really understood that you are taking sports, I think everyone thought we could raise money or do pay to play, it even said that in the Contra Costa Times, but as I understand it from Sherry tonight, we are not eligible for pay to play because of some of the schools below poverty levels. This is absolutely devastating. And if the Parcel Tax doesn’t pass things are even more dire. My feeling is that with 1/3 of high school students in the Mt. Diablo School District participating in sports, that is a good support base for passing the Parcel Tax. I know for a fact that if it meant keeping High School Athletics, you would have hundreds of people willing to go door to door to get the support for this Parcel Tax, without having it specifically written into the Parcel Tax, you have tied all the Athletics Boosters and Parents hands, we can not go out and rally for this Parcel Tax to save Sports because you won’t commit to that.

This cut of all high school athletics will have astronomical consequences to our students, those that have dreams of college scholarships, those that have questionable family lives, sports are the best intervention program we have. Without sports those kids will be wondering around our neighborhoods getting into trouble, gang issues will rise, and high school truancy and drop out rates will increase. Beyond the affects this will have on our children, this move will lower our property values even more, with people leaving the area to go to districts with sports programs, and people not wanting to move into our district without a sports program, our school scores will drop, with the students having no accountability, the grades and test scores will plummet.

All this being said, I am not blaming the board for the cut, I understand why it was made and that it was a difficult decision, however, what I am saying and asking for, is for some accountability. What can we do to keep the sports programs, realistically, we need a plan, we can make it work if there is only a plan of action. Can we add sports to the Parcel Tax verbiage, then we can get every parent of a high school student in sports to go out and rally behind Measure D? And if the Parcel tax doesn’t pass, how much money needs to be raised? Can the schools keep the gate fees and transportation fees toward the funds for sports? Is there any way to do pay to play? Can each sport fund itself like Water Polo at Concord High? We need answers and we need answers now so that we can get something in place to have sports programs still in our schools in August when our students return from summer break.

As I said before, this cut will cause far reaching devastation, it will affect far more students, directly and indirectly than any other cut. Please consider this carefully and help us to keep our sports programs.
Sherry Whitmarsh mentioned tonight, she has not seen any support for sports at the board meetings, except a few people from College Park. Well, I can guarantee you, that will be changing, the biggest reason that no one has shouted out about this cut yet, is because no one really knew it had happened and what it really meant. We all assumed it would just turn into a pay to play situation, at worst, now we know that is not the worst. The worst, absolutely, is no sports programs, which are vital to our children’s education and chances at getting into college, being successful and for our community to continue to thrive with decent schools and programs.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and we will be seeing you at the board meetings.


Sincerely,
Meghan Mahler
mmahler@sbcglobal.net

(students at Concord High and El Dorado Middle)


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