Sheldon Budget Breakdown

Sofia El-Shammaa

For years, Sheldon has been known as a ‘sports school’ in the 4j districts. This year alone, Sheldon has made it to quarterfinals for girls’ soccer, the finals for football, and won the state championship for volleyball, with other schools in the district being knocked out in the first few rounds. Although Sheldon’s athletic prowess may be a point of pride for many students, some are concerned about the amount of money that is funnelled into sports programs-- or, more precisely, the lack of money being funnelled into arts programs, like theatre and choir.

This is not without reason. Sheldon has a budget of $227,841.64, according to the district. However, that does not include money for athletics. Sheldon receives a $217,438 athletic stipend; almost equal to the total discretionary budget. So, what about those arts programs? What about theatre? Well, most years, the theatre department relies heavily on donations. The exact amount, “depends on the show. This year we’re receiving a grant, which means I don’t have to worry as much,” said theatre director Megan Perdue. As for the support from the school? Perdue said, “We receive a small amount of money from the school every year.”

Other programs, such as the yearbook, newspaper, and printmaking combined make a fraction of the athletic stipend ($5,689.41). That is approximately 2.5% of the athletic stipend. However, it is important to remember that the athletic stipend covers all sports, not just three classes. To be fair, those classes run for more than a season, with newspaper and yearbook running all year, and printmaking being available for two out of three terms.

All of this, of course, is not including other fundraising efforts. Booster clubs are required to register as 501(c), or a nonprofit, and raise money for whatever organization or club they choose to sponsor. The choir is planning to start a booster club “because we’re expanding,” said Perdue.

Money in the athletic stipend does not cover the money paid to the teachers for extra time, if they coach or advise an extracurricular activity like Associated Student Body, band, newspaper, etc. Those are included in the staff salaries.

Additionally, while $227,841.64 is the total discretionary budget, it is not all of the money Sheldon uses. According to Lisa Fjordbeck, an operations coordinator at the superintendent’s office, “The school also gets other funds to pay for activities including student body funds, grants, private purpose trust funds, and donations. The total budgeted all funds funding for Sheldon HS is $9,894,464 for this fiscal year, the bulk of this being teacher and staff salaries/benefits.”

It’s a fairly common complaint that teachers don’t get paid enough. “I feel bad, because they work a lot and then don’t get paid anything,” said sophomore Morgan Lansing, who currently plans to be an English teacher.

On the low end, in 4j, a teacher who works 191 days can earn as little as $42,336. If that teacher were the sole breadwinner in a family of three, that family would be under the 175% poverty line. While the 175% poverty line may seem passable, it’s not. Since individual states do not have their own poverty lines, this applies to all states - including ones with a substantially lower average income. Additionally, the family would fall under the Oregon Expanded Income Guideline, which is a statefunded school meal program that assists families who do not qualify for federal reduced/free meals. That being said, there are many factors that affect a teacher’s salary, including education level, if they participate in extra duties (coaching, advising, etc), and years worked. A teacher who participates in extra duties and works 194 days could earn as much as $84,457; nearly double the lowest amount.