Playing for the home sports team

Local school leaders are carefully watching the news coming out of this year’s General Assembly.

That’s because state aid to public education is the local schools’ largest single source of money. The decisions made in Richmond over the next few weeks will determine local school budgets for the new fiscal year that starts in July.

As things stand right now, Pittsylvania County may offer more early retirements to its older — and higher paid — teachers to save money. Danville could close one or more school buildings. Like school budgets all across Virginia, both the city and county have started the annual "budget season" millions of dollars in the red.

That’s the budget outlook this year. But even in relatively good financial times, school funding is still based on enrollment — Average Daily Membership, or ADM — which is why school systems don’t want homeschooled students playing on varsity sports teams.

"Our position has been if you are not a part of ADM, then you may not benefit from how we spend the money for public school students," Danville School Board member Malcolm Huckabee said.

Homeschooled students are definitely not included in the ADM, but if their parents own a home, they pay property taxes. If their parents buy anything in a local store, they pay sales taxes. If they eat in a local restaurant, they pay the meals tax.

All those tax dollars flow into local government treasuries.

The reality is that the families of homeschooled students are taxed for a government service — the public schools — that they don’t use even though they pay every tax that local property owners, shoppers and restaurant customers pay.

Under legislation pending before this year’s General Assembly, those students would be able to play for their local high school sports teams. It’s a good idea; concerns about academic eligibility and discipline can certainly be resolved.

The core issue is that the public schools belong to the community. That’s what they tell us, anyway. Everyone is asked to support those schools, including empty-nesters whose children are grown and singles who don’t have children. The single biggest expenditure for Danville, Pittsylvania County and the state of Virginia is public education — and everyone pays.

Since so many taxpayer dollars are being spent on the schools, it seems only fair that local young people whose taxpaying parents have decided to educate them in a different way should be able to take advantage of school athletic programs. Those parents are already supporting the public schools their children want to play for.