Are all varsity coaches at MUSD created equal?

By Ethan McSweeney

Maricopa High School’s band director should receive a higher stipend and varsity sports coaches should all be paid equally, some members of the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board argued Wednesday.

At the board’s meeting, Board President Patti Coutré and Board Member Torri Anderson said adjustments should be made to how the district pays out its coaches ahead of the next school year.

“I really believe that all of our coaches, that their time needs to be valued no matter what sport they’re doing,” Coutré said.

Under the proposed stipends for the 2016-17 school year:

•    The head football coach would receive a $4,000 stipend for next year
•    Head varsity coaches for volleyball, baseball, softball and boys’ and girls’ basketball would be paid $3,400
•    The marching band director would collect $2,600
•    Head varsity coaches for wrestling, track, soccer and cross country would also receive $2,600
•    Varsity cheerleading, tennis and golf head coaches would be paid $2,000
•    Additional stipends would be paid out for athletic coaches based on the number of athletes on the team and if they reach post-season play

The difference in pay between the marching band director and the head football coach isn’t a fair arrangement, Anderson said, because the band director, Ivan Pour, works year-round and “does as much if not more than the football coach [Chris McDonald].”

“I think that we need to value that,” she said. “If we want to keep employees, this is one place that we can do it. I think [the marching band director position] deserves as much as the football coach.”

All the head varsity sports coaches should all be paid the same stipend at the $3,400 rate, Coutré argued. She added that she understood why the football coach should be paid at a higher rate than other varsity coaches.

MUSD Superintendent Steve Chestnut said the pay scales for stipends were set up this way by a previous athletic director because he felt the differences reflected the amount of time dedicated to each sport.

Current MUSD Athletic Director Mark Cisterna was away from school Thursday and directed questions on the stipends to Chestnut.

In order to pay for higher stipends for the coaches, Coutré suggested that the money could come out of the extra funds that would be allocated next year for site budgets. “If we really want to change this, then we have to come up with the money for it,” she said.

Chestnut said adjustments to the stipends would be presented for the next MUSD Governing Board meeting on June 22.

Also, changes to the stipend scale were proposed that would give district employees with doctoral degrees $2,300 and head Special Olympics coaches $1,600 per sport. Other Special Olympics coaches would receive a $1,300 stipend per sport.