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The Florida Legislature has opened the door for high school sports coaches to receive a pay raise.
House Bill 731 received overwhelming support and passed by a 104-5 vote on March 9. The measure previously cleared the Senate by a unanimous vote.
For Dr. Andrew Ramjit, executive director of the Florida Coaches Coalition, the bill is long overdue.
“Most people don’t understand that coaches have only been paid a flat supplement for 50 years and how that supplement is relative to the amount of hours they work," Ramjit said. "A football coach is working 1,500 hours plus a year and you’re making 3,700. That’s two bucks an hour. There’s no other profession where you’re making that little.”
The bill allows high school booster clubs to provide direct, additional compensation to coaches. The idea is to enable public schools to significantly increase compensation for coaches and advisors of extracurricular activities such as football, volleyball, debate clubs and theater.
Here's what we know so far.
“The bill gives flexibility to school districts whether or not they want to implement this,” Ramjit said. “The next stage is going into the school districts that do not support the legislation, and working with the superintendents, school boards, all the stake holders to make sure this is something that they implement starting on July 1.”
According to Ramjit, 10 of the 67 school districts in the state support the bill and have publicly stated they are working on their internal policies. The other 57 school districts have not publicly commented.
No. The bill allows booster clubs and support organizations to pay coaches in addition to the supplement a coach already receives from the school district.
While some school administrators have supported coaches receiving more pay, one of the primary questions over the past few years is how cash-strapped school districts would afford to give raises. Giving the option for outside funding removes that potential burden.
Also, because the funds will not be coming from the school districts, schools will not be in a position where it potentially must cut sports to pay coaches.
“Not a single dollar is coming out of a school district’s budget,” Ramjit said. “I think the legislature themselves, when they were writing the bill, did not want to put any kind of a burden on school districts because everyone knows they're losing money at a rapid pace. … They don’t have the funds they had a decade ago.”
It depends on how the booster club is set up. If the booster club is a nonprofit organization, there are certain things it needs to disclose. If the booster club is a Limited Liability Company (LLC), it would not need to disclose a contract.
Not necessarily.
"The expectation is that coaches will work directly with the booster club separate from the school district," Ramjit said.
Yes and no.
Under the bill, a coach or athletic director can ask the superintendent to be classified as an administrator. If that happens, the coach cannot earn more than the highest paid administrator in the school district, which is the superintendent.
The booster club component does not have a cap. Ramjit said if a booster club wanted to pay a football coach $200,000 annually, then it can do that.
“On the booster club piece there is no cap,” he said. “It’s all based on the community. What’s great about the bill in my opinion is it promotes free market. You’re going to get paid what your market value is.”
Absolutely – and it could happen within the same school. Ultimately, those decisions could largely be determined by the booster clubs rather than the school district.
If a school has both a boys and girls team in the same sport, school districts tend to have the same stipend for both coaches. But under the bill, it is possible that the girls basketball coach would make more than the boys basketball coach based on what the individual team’s booster club is willing to pay.
Booster clubs do not have align themselves with Title IX standards. Title IX standards only apply to schools and any specific program receiving federal financial assistance.
Most likely.
“Communities where you already have booster clubs established, the booster clubs themselves are extremely happy about this because they don’t want to lose their coaches,” Ramjit said. “We’ve seen too many coaches leave Florida to go to Georgia, to go to Alabama for purposes of compensation over the last five years. These communities are happy because they can participate in the process of keeping their head coach.
“Communities that are smaller and don’t have booster clubs set up, they have a slight bit of anxiety because they realize they have to get these booster clubs set up. … They understand this is something they have to adapt to.”
Ramjit said the FCC will work with school districts that don’t have booster clubs to help them get started on the process.
Yes. Again, it’s up to each individual school or individual sport’s booster club and what it’s willing to do.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida law would allow high school coaches to get paid more
Continue reading...
House Bill 731 received overwhelming support and passed by a 104-5 vote on March 9. The measure previously cleared the Senate by a unanimous vote.
For Dr. Andrew Ramjit, executive director of the Florida Coaches Coalition, the bill is long overdue.
“Most people don’t understand that coaches have only been paid a flat supplement for 50 years and how that supplement is relative to the amount of hours they work," Ramjit said. "A football coach is working 1,500 hours plus a year and you’re making 3,700. That’s two bucks an hour. There’s no other profession where you’re making that little.”
The bill allows high school booster clubs to provide direct, additional compensation to coaches. The idea is to enable public schools to significantly increase compensation for coaches and advisors of extracurricular activities such as football, volleyball, debate clubs and theater.
Here's what we know so far.
Do school districts have to adhere to what’s in the bill?
“The bill gives flexibility to school districts whether or not they want to implement this,” Ramjit said. “The next stage is going into the school districts that do not support the legislation, and working with the superintendents, school boards, all the stake holders to make sure this is something that they implement starting on July 1.”
According to Ramjit, 10 of the 67 school districts in the state support the bill and have publicly stated they are working on their internal policies. The other 57 school districts have not publicly commented.
Do any funds to increase coach pay come from the school district?
No. The bill allows booster clubs and support organizations to pay coaches in addition to the supplement a coach already receives from the school district.
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While some school administrators have supported coaches receiving more pay, one of the primary questions over the past few years is how cash-strapped school districts would afford to give raises. Giving the option for outside funding removes that potential burden.
Also, because the funds will not be coming from the school districts, schools will not be in a position where it potentially must cut sports to pay coaches.
“Not a single dollar is coming out of a school district’s budget,” Ramjit said. “I think the legislature themselves, when they were writing the bill, did not want to put any kind of a burden on school districts because everyone knows they're losing money at a rapid pace. … They don’t have the funds they had a decade ago.”
Do booster clubs have to make their contract with a coach public?
It depends on how the booster club is set up. If the booster club is a nonprofit organization, there are certain things it needs to disclose. If the booster club is a Limited Liability Company (LLC), it would not need to disclose a contract.
Do booster clubs need to work with the school districts on contracts?
Not necessarily.
"The expectation is that coaches will work directly with the booster club separate from the school district," Ramjit said.
Is there a cap for how much a coach can make?
Yes and no.
Under the bill, a coach or athletic director can ask the superintendent to be classified as an administrator. If that happens, the coach cannot earn more than the highest paid administrator in the school district, which is the superintendent.
You must be registered for see images
The booster club component does not have a cap. Ramjit said if a booster club wanted to pay a football coach $200,000 annually, then it can do that.
“On the booster club piece there is no cap,” he said. “It’s all based on the community. What’s great about the bill in my opinion is it promotes free market. You’re going to get paid what your market value is.”
Could booster club contacts within a school district differ by sport and/or gender?
Absolutely – and it could happen within the same school. Ultimately, those decisions could largely be determined by the booster clubs rather than the school district.
If a school has both a boys and girls team in the same sport, school districts tend to have the same stipend for both coaches. But under the bill, it is possible that the girls basketball coach would make more than the boys basketball coach based on what the individual team’s booster club is willing to pay.
Booster clubs do not have align themselves with Title IX standards. Title IX standards only apply to schools and any specific program receiving federal financial assistance.
Does this mean programs with established booster clubs will be ahead or programs that don’t?
Most likely.
“Communities where you already have booster clubs established, the booster clubs themselves are extremely happy about this because they don’t want to lose their coaches,” Ramjit said. “We’ve seen too many coaches leave Florida to go to Georgia, to go to Alabama for purposes of compensation over the last five years. These communities are happy because they can participate in the process of keeping their head coach.
“Communities that are smaller and don’t have booster clubs set up, they have a slight bit of anxiety because they realize they have to get these booster clubs set up. … They understand this is something they have to adapt to.”
Ramjit said the FCC will work with school districts that don’t have booster clubs to help them get started on the process.
Does this mean coaches for revenue sports (football, basketball, etc.) could make considerably more than non-revenue sports (golf, tennis, etc.)?
Yes. Again, it’s up to each individual school or individual sport’s booster club and what it’s willing to do.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida law would allow high school coaches to get paid more
Continue reading...
