Dear PPS,

I just read a comment about the amount of money you’ve got going towards high school sports. I’m not going to tell you what you should do here but this seems like a slap in the face to all the other programs you’re looking to cut. I can’t believe you would ask Outdoor School to fundraise in the community before you ask the handful of high school athletes to do this. We all know they’d get the money from a local shoe company (or two) or some local professional athletes. Give Outdoor School the chance to repair itself from last year. 

I never went to Outdoor School but my friends did and I would never say anything bad about it. I was on Varsity Track at Grant. I know how bad that field is but spending $2,800,000 this year to fix it is not a smart use of money. I know how important sports are to the ones who take part. But it’s just that: only the participants, fans and parents are seeing any benefit for such a huge sum of money. I like to think I was someone who saw something in everyone, but I know that most athletes are much more, let’s say egotistical than that. They think the world revolves around them. If you give them this money, that reaffirms this. 

Make them work for it. Give Outdoor School a break for once. 

Warmly, 

Vance F. Cully

Grant High School ‘05