Everyone knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time.

Sooner or later the ax was going to fall and the school district was going to have to shave some programs in an attempt to cover budget shortfalls.

Superintendent Rick Schulte said the school district cut it’s budget by nearly 10 percent in the last two years. According to him, officials still need to lop off an additional $2 million to keep “the buildings clean, maintain the grounds, and provide a warm welcome that should be provided by each school.”

The latest item to get trimmed is $40,000 in “athletic expenses” from the middle schools’ budgets.

I find this cut sort of ironic, seeing the district is upping the pay-to-play fees 50 percent from $50 to $75 per player, per sport, next year.

I ask how much would have things been trimmed if the playing fees hadn’t been increased? Quite a lot, I expect.

According to the press release, both schools will reduce the number of teams fielded for each sport and eliminate the junior varsity level.

I’ll tell you what, if I had a seventh-grader that wasn’t quite big or talented enough to go head-to-head with some of the other kids but still expressed the desire to play and was willing to show up every day after school for practice, it’s a tragedy that he or she wouldn’t be able to play on one of the middle school’s “B” basketball teams.

To me, that’s talent and enthusiasm going to waste for a year and puts the other athletes who played on the “A” team a step ahead when everyone goes out for the eighth-grade basketball the next year.

The two schools will combine to offer track and cross country programs which I think is a good idea. Now there will be more kids, one large team rather than two medium-sized ones, and this should create a more competitive atmosphere at practice. The end result will be better track and field and cross country athletes.

Still, the days of B teams in boys and girls basketball, wrestling and volleyball are gone.

To some people $40,000 may seem like a lot, to others it’s not much less than a luxury vehicle or a “high-roller” trip to Las Vegas.

The question is, if enough parents put their heads together, could that amount of money be raised and ear-marked exclusively for middle school athletics?

It probably could and the first thing to do is get the word out to the community regarding what’s going on.

Set up donation cans at stores around town and start collecting nickels and dimes, and approach a few businesses, the Chamber of Commerce or the high school booster club with requests for assistance.

Hold a couple of bake sales and yard sales, which are always good ways to earn a buck or two, or get someone to donate a semi-valuable item and raffle it off. Something like a new ATV or a rifle like sportsmen’s associations do which always seems to raise a lot of money.

Raising money to keep a program going has been done in the past, all it takes are a few folks with “get ‘er done” attitudes to step up.

A final thought, how about some of those high-salaried school administrators dipping into their wallets?

Remember, it’s all for the kids and they will be the ones who will benefit in the end.