Nov. 23 -- EDITOR'S NOTE -- This story has been edited to reflect new information regarding extra duty stipends for athletics.
Saralynn Boren came to the Stillwater Public Schools Board meeting Nov. 12 to advocate for her son after she found out about the district budget cuts to special education and instructional support, but she had another question.
Why were no athletic budget cuts happening?
Boren's son, a fifth-grader in Stillwater Public Schools, is on the autism spectrum, has an Individualized Education Plan and receives special education services. Boren has two other children who attend school in the district.
Due to a budget shortfall, the district needs to cut 29% of its budget for student support services, 31% of its instructional support services and 12% of its budget for guidance counselors for the 2025-26 academic school year. The Board approved the cuts, although reluctantly.
During the meeting, Boren said she was "alarmed" at what she said were "huge budget cuts" to student support services and instructional support.
"I'm also alarmed to see that while we are proposing a 30% reduction in instructional support costs, and a 30% reduction in student support costs, there are no cuts proposed to athletics," she said.
Boren said she researched how many athletic coaches SPS currently employs, and found that there are a total of 91 coaches, 15 of which are high school football coaches and 8 are seventh and eighth grade football coaches. But only 53 of those athletics positions are employed elsewhere as teachers or paraprofessionals in the district, she said.
The News Press also verified the information Boren shared with the Board.
Boren also cited the Extra Duty Comparison of Stipends, a study completed by the Oklahoma Education Association in conjunction with the National Education Association.
For extra duty stipends in the 2019-20 academic school year, Boren found that among 6A school districts of comparable size, SPS paid its soccer and swimming coaches a stipend of $7,500, more than any other district of its size.
The News Press tracked the numbers for the 2021-22 academic year, and found those numbers hadn't changed.
Head football coaches' extra duty stipends also remained consistent at $15,500. Other comparable school districts such as Sand Springs and Muskogee had extra duty stipends of $16,000 and $15,000, respectively.
In addition, the track and wrestling coaches' extra duty stipends in the district remain in the top five ranges among 6A schools. For the 2021-22 school year, the study revealed that the extra duty stipend for the track coach position was $6,000.
However, for at least the track coaching position, some of those particulars shifted in recent years.
SPS Communications Coordinator Barry Fuxa confirmed that some stipends for some positions have been combined. The head track coaching position had been split evenly between the boys' and girls' teams, meaning the coach now receives $3,000 for the boys' track team and $3,000 for the girls' track team.
"But for some reason, we're not proposing any budget cuts to athletics," Boren said. "Our special education students need those supports to be successful, and they deserve to be given the chance to be successful. Not only is the district legally required to provide these supports, but it's just the right thing to do."
Boren had also attended the special meeting the Board held Oct. 29 at Meridian Technology Center when the budget cuts were first announced, and afterward, she posted about the proposed cuts in a Facebook group called Stillwater Autism Parent Group, prompting another parent to also speak up at the Nov. 12 meeting.
"I was there when you talked about doing this in a way that would impact students the least at the Board meeting a few weeks ago, and this proposal does not do that," Boren told the Board, urging them to reconsider the budget cuts to special education and saying she knew no one in administration or on the Board wanted to make the cuts.
Employing paraprofessionals, or instructional support educators, at schools to serve every student who needs the support is already hard enough, Boren said. Will the school lose the paraprofessionals already employed, and will children struggle?
"I've become pretty passionate about advocating for special education services," she told the News Press after the Board meeting. "All parents who have to advocate for those things know that it's hard to get those services, (to) get the support that you need."
Boren said there's no telling if the budget cuts would directly impact her son.
"It might be at a different school that it's going to impact more," Boren said.
Acting Superintendent Janet Vinson said that the topic of athletics as a possible budget cut was "absolutely a great point."
"Many of our coaches are teaching coaches, so when we're looking at certified staff, it very well may affect athletics," Vinson said. "But knowing that that's a concern of our public, we'll look even closer at that."