10/03/13 Plymouth Schools Athletic Director Roy Benge gave his annual report to the Plymouth School Board at the October 1 meeting. Benge said there were 668 athletes involved in the various programs during the 2012-2013 school year. The number reflected an increase from 635 in the 2011-2012 school year. The number of contests also increased going from 784 in 2011-2012 to 824 in 2012-2013. Five years ago, that number was only 738.
Benge said he is proud of the grade point averages of the student athletes. The GPA of athletes for 2012-0213 averaged out at 8.733 compared to 7.078 for non-athletes.
Board member Larry Pinkerton commended Benge on the way he and his staff handled the financial aspects of the programs. Pinkerton said, “Not all schools can do what you do.” The expenditures totaled $503,018.74 while the receipts netted $521,099.64. Those figures, along with a savings balance of $62,078.37, bring the total cash available to $200,569.90. Benge said, “We are diligent in who we buy from and what we pay.” Benge commented also on the number of donations that the athletic programs are given from the community including $32,000 in private donations and $18,000 from the Athletic Boosters and other business donations.
The Code of Conduct violations hit 28, up from 16 the year before. Benge explained that 11 of those violations were for alcohol and tobacco use, and 8 of those were connected to one party.
Transportation costs continue to be heavy with $13,805.98 being paid out from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013. The total combines bus costs from baseball ($2,154.65), boys basketball, boys golf, boys soccer, boys swimming, boys tennis, boys track, cross country, cheerleading, football ($1,263.86), girls basketball ($1,238,77), girls golf, girls soccer, girls swimming, girls tennis, girls track, gymnastics, soft ball, volleyball and wrestling.
In other matters, the Board voted unanimouly to adopt the 2014General Budget ($24,748,774), Capital Projects ($4,264,100), and the Bus Replacement Plan ($322,000). The vote also included Debt Services ($4,091,063) that must be paid. Other Transportation Services were set t $1,413,972. A Rainy Day Fund and Instruction and Retirement Incentives were named at $660,000. The budget totaled $35,813,786.
The approved amount voted on by the School Board members could be adjusted from the DLGF at the state level.
Carol Anders Correspondent
