Money is central to full-time athletic trainer issue.
By: Lea Kahn
If the Lawrence High School Athletic Booster Club can find the money, district officials said they would consider creating a full-time athletic trainer position.
Schools Superintendent Max Riley gave the green light Tuesday to Lawrence High School Principal Donald Profitt to work with Karla Stein, president of the Athletic Club Boosters, on the proposal.
"I invited Mrs. Stein to think about the issue where might we look elsewhere for funding," Dr. Riley said. "I told Mrs. Stein that her expertise as a professional fund-raiser might come in handy. We are all ears. We love help."
Dr. Riley said he would be willing to present a full-time athletic trainer proposal to the Board of Education for consideration if Mrs. Stein and Mr. Profitt can find a way to make it a reality.
Parents and students made a pitch to the Board of Education last week to create a full-time athletic trainer post for high school teacher Martin Ramsi for the 2002-03 school year. The physical education teacher works part-time as the trainer in the athletic department.
The parents and students told the school board that if it did not make the job a full-time position, Mr. Ramsi likely would leave the district. In fact, Mr. Ramsi submitted his letter of resignation last week. He plans to leave at the end of the school year.
Attempts to reach Mr. Ramsi for comment were unsuccessful.
It is not unusual for a school district to have a full-time athletic trainer. Ewing High School, for example, has a full-time athletic trainer. That person is paid in the low $40,000 range, according to Ewing school district officials. The salary is based on the teacher salary scale.
The booster club thinks a full-time athletic trainer would be better than a part-time trainer, Mrs. Stein said. For starters, that person would be fresh and ready to go to work in the afternoon, she said.
Presently, Mr. Ramsi teaches classes at the high school and then goes to work as the trainer after school. That means the athletic trainer begins work around 8 a.m. and does not finish until as late as 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., she said.
"The school district has asked the trainer to be there day and night to teach classes and to train," she said. "It means 12-hour days. You can’t do that. It causes burnout and turnover."
The booster club wants to ensure that there is a safe environment for the student-athletes, she said. A full-time athletic trainer would likely be more up to date in the preferred methods for treating sports injuries, she added.
The athletic trainer may offer nutritional guidance to students, and help them to gain weight or lose weight, Mrs. Stein said. The trainer also could prepare the athletes for competition during the day.
"We want to be excellent in learning, but sports are important, too," said Mrs. Stein. "Students learn about time management. I worry about the safety of the students. We need an athletic trainer to be there at the games."
Mrs. Stein said the booster club was told there would be money in the 2002-03 budget for a full-time athletic trainer, but it was cut from the budget.
Dr. Riley said the idea had been discussed at budget time, but the idea never made it into the budget.
Dr. Riley said the school district is not philosophically opposed to a full-time athletic trainer, but there is not enough money in the 2002-03 budget for the position.
For now, the position will remain a part-time post, paying a stipend of $8,200 to $10,000.
The school board added very little in the way of new staff for 2002-03, Dr. Riley said. The board had to budget more money to pay for increased insurance premiums, energy bills and health insurance premiums in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attack, he said.