Next year’s high school sports are in jeopardy if the Maine Principals Association has their way. Their current contract offerings for sports officials has failed to keep pace with inflation and the cost of living and will have a negative impact on recruiting new officials and keeping the ones we have.
Because Maine has an aging demographic of officials, it is imperative to incentivize new and younger officials to the game. This, along with increasingly poor behavior on the part of fans, coaches and players, has made recruiting even more difficult. The argument that schools cannot afford to pay officials an appropriate and fair wage is a falsehood. Officials’ fees are a tiny portion of a school’s overall sports budget, and lack of funding is not the officials’ burden.
If schools need to raise money in order fairly compensate officials, they can raise money through booster clubs, fundraisers and bake sales. Now is the time to work collectively to find a fair and reasonable solution to the current negotiations so that we can keep both students and officials on the field and playing the game.
Ronald Kramer
South Portland
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