After district budget cuts, Moses Lake community close to saving extra-curricular activities, including WIAA sports

Besides the non-profit 'Community Athletics and Activities' raising close to $500,000 in six weeks, coaches have also agreed to essentially oversee their sports programs for free, saving more than $1 million

Moses Lake's Carter Anderson scores a touchdown at the Thurston County Team Camp at Tumwater. / Photo by Todd Milles

After a double-levy failure during the 2023-24 school year, Moses Lake School District officials announced its next-year budget would be impacted by a multi-million-dollar shortfall

In May, because of an $11 million district-level accounting error, that budgetary deficit grew to nearly $20 million.

Approximately 200 teaching and staff-member jobs were cut (and currently approaching 300), but that wasn't going to entirely fix the problem.

So, in June, the community became aware of what was next up to be eliminated to save $2.6 million: Extra-curricular activities, including high-school and middle-school sports.

"We are a really small town, and everyone hears what everyone is saying," Moses Lakes High School football coach Brett Jay said. "We knew it could be doom and gloom quickly. ... There was concern, for sure."

And just like that, with the snap of the fingers, concern evolved into pro-active community rallying - and resolve.

Spearheaded by a group of coaches, administrators and a community-led non-profit group called "Community Athletics and Activities (CAA)," a furious campaign is underway to save those extra-curricular activities for the next two seasons.

"It was instant - in the moment," said Ryan Carpenter, the CAA president - and a 2007 Moses Lake graduate.

But as the weeks have gone on - with varying levels of stress - Carpenter admits the attempt to recover the needed $2.6 million for a fully-operating budget has been a "large undertaking."

* Budget reductions: The two primary components of the $2.6 million budget are sports-coaching and club-advising stipends ($1.6 million) and transportation ($1 million).

A large portion of the $1.6 million has already been trimmed after the coaches' union agreed to reduce their stipends to $1 per year over the next two seasons.

It was an idea initially met with plenty of blowback, Moses Lake girls basketball coach Matt Strophy said.

"We just said, to have sports, they need us (coaches) to be there," Strophy said. "And if we want this to go on for kids, this is what we need to agree to."

Strophy said as the summer has gone on, most coaches agree on the principle of the idea - especially veteran coaches who have built their programs to state-level caliber.

"I started coaching before I met my wife or started having my own kids. It is part of the fabric and identity of who we are in this community," Strophy said. "I've put 22 years in this basketball program, and I will be damned if I watch it (suffer)."

Expenditures on bus transportation will be scaled way back, prioritized by need. When needed, some transportation costs will also be covered by booster-club funds.

Also, other schools in the 4A CBBN have offered to adjust game travel, especially for sub-varsity action, to save Moses Lake money.

* The other side of this is raising money. As Carpenter succinctly put it, "the more we raise, the more we can negotiate things. If we don’t have money, we cannot do anything."

Essentially, the CAA has become fund-raising/distributing headquarters (with no school district oversight) - or almost its own bank.

Its five-person board is strictly made up of community members - physical therapist, farmer, attorney, accountant and relocation specialist. Most of them have had children, in the past or currently, who have participated in district extra-curricular activities.

To this point, nearly $500,000 has been raised since early July, with the bulk of it coming from corporate, community and out-of-area online donations ($300,000) on the CAA's Website.

Last Monday, an "hour-a-thon" fundraiser, largely put on by student-athletes, has raised close to $150,000.

Carpenter said a couple more community-based fundraisers - a bowling and silent-auction fundraiser (Friday), followed by work staffing the Grant County Fair (Aug. 13-17) - are also planned.

"What has happened in six weeks is nothing short of amazing," Carpenter said.

As of now, it appears Moses Lake is solidly on track to be in a position to offer most, if not all normal extra-curricular activities for its middle-school and high-school students in 2024-25.

"It is what makes Moses Lake special," Jay said. "This community has risen up in a difficult spot, and it shows that high school activities here are very important."