By Conor Tekautz
Enterprise staff writer
The Davis Enterprise

Sports at Davis High School would be among the first programs on the chopping block of Measure W fails to pass at the polls Tuesday.

The three-year, $120-per-year parcel tax aims to provide stable funding for the teachers and programs that were saved for one year only in last spring's 'Save Our Schools' campaign mounted by the Davis Schools Foundation.

'Our first allegiance is to keep our academic programs intact,' DHS athletic director Patrick Donlon said. 'We would be facing the elimination of a lot of freshman and junior varsity sports.'

Right now, Donlon said, the school district provides stipends for the coaches. If Measure W falls short of the necessary two-thirds majority, however, those stipends likely would be eliminated.

If that happens, DHS will have to rely more than ever on support from families to sustain its sports teams, making the cost of participating in athletics a lot higher than it already is. But even that might not be enough to keep every team afloat.

'A significant number of students would be affected,' Donlon said. 'Right now, one out of every two students participates in some sport. We have 2,000 students and 1,100 of them participate.'

If the Measure W fails, one possibility involves giving a block of money to the DHS athletic department, which would determined how to spend it.

'We would basically be pitting one sport against another,' Donlon said. 'How do you decide if badminton is more or less important than lacrosse?'

Donlon said if DHS is forced to

eliminate athletic teams, varsity sports likely would not be touched. However, if varsity cuts were necessary, the key factors would be tradition and the number of participants on each team, he said.

Revenue teams like football and basketball are the only ones that are likely to be safe. For a school that has won a Sac-Joaquin Section-high 97 section championships - including 42 in this decade alone - in 13 different sports, separating sports by tradition may be a tough task to undertake.

Donlon also realizes his job could be at stake as well.

'It's all dollars and cents, and that's what it comes down to,' Donlon said. 'I'm already semi-retired and am just a temp employee at this point, so I would probably be let go.'

Donlon expects a close vote

Tuesday, especially since the measure needs a two-thirds majority.

'All the people I've talked to (are) supporting the schools and athletics,' Donlon said. 'But with the way the economy is right now, you never know what's going to happen.'