<p>$60,000,000 for a PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL football team??? all I can say is good grief!!</p>
<p>[Rivals</a> High - Texas school set to begin work on $60M stadium](<a href=“http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1074494]Rivals”>http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1074494)</p>
<p>That’s Ok it is for a High School…</p>
<p>but</p>
<p>how about for a middle school?</p>
<p>$125 million to “modernize” a middle school</p>
<p>[How</a> Can I Help?](<a href=“http://www.hw.com/msmpnew/HowCanIHelp/tabid/1458/Default.aspx]How”>http://www.hw.com/msmpnew/HowCanIHelp/tabid/1458/Default.aspx)</p>
<p>Let’s review. Thomas Jefferson-out! $60 Million High School stadium-in!</p>
<p>All this Texan has to say is, “oy vey!”</p>
<p>Welcome to Texas high school football!!!</p>
<p>Isn’t this the school which has 600 kids in its marching band?</p>
<p>Sounds like they need a new high school. But districts like this resist that. If you build a new high school to reduce crowding, then you dilute the football, basketball, and soccer talent. Plano went through the same thing until they finally had no other option but to build new high schools.</p>
<p>But Carroll is going to stick with one high school - they have 9-10 in one building and 11-12 in the main campus. Now way on this earth are they going to dilute the sports talent!!!</p>
<p>Whenever out of state tourists ask what to do in the Dallas area, if it’s the right time I always say to just find a big high school on a Friday night and go to the football game. It’s quite a production.</p>
<p>Holy cow. :eek: That’s a lot of money. But, if the tax payers aren’t screaming, why should I?</p>
<p>Last Saturday my kids competed in a track meet in the next county over. We parents were gaga over the fact that the (public) HS had a turf field and video scoreboard. Demographically and economically, this school system is very similar to ours. Needless to say, we were all wondering where they got the money AND what kinds of extravagances (sp?) they had in the classrooms.</p>
<p>Like DB, I guess if the Allen taxpayers don’t care, I won’t either. But wow.</p>
<p>Coppell HS has an indoor practice football field. When the Dallas Cowboy’s traning facilty blew down in a tornado, they started using the nearby school field. Pretty amazing use of taxpayer money!</p>
<p>I have to admit, I was so happy when we moved from Texas to Maine, and our community did NOT have a school football team! What a concept! But they had a club team which has become an “official” team. At least it’s not the big deal it is in Texas. I went to Austin Westlake, the team the producers of “Friday Night Lights” followed around for a season before making the movie. (I didn’t know that when I went to see it - I kept thinking, “Wow, this is so realistic!” Then I saw the credits and knew why.)</p>
<p>Don’t forget that high school football in a large school can be a huge money maker with ticket sales. I have seen some large schools charge as much as $10 per ticket.</p>
<p>If you have a stadium that holds 5,000 people and you build a new stadium that holds 10,000 people, as an example, and you sell out every game and have 5 home games every year, that is an additional ticket revenue of $250,000 per year. </p>
<p>It goes up even more when you start considering that stadiums can be even larger than this, that concessions sells more, that you generally have more than 5 games if you count pre-season and post-season, etc…</p>
<p>For a large high school with a big-time football program it can be a considerable source of income, moreso then the monthly/annual payment on a capital expenditure.</p>
<p>And we’ve never personally been able to figure out who gets the take at the gate. The football boosters sell programs for $7 each and get that. The marching band has eternal dibs on stadium concessions and they get that profit. Various groups sell spirit items at the games and they get that money. But I’ve never been able to find out exaclty where the entrance $ goes…to the school’s general fund? athletics in general? football in particular? Don’t know.</p>
<p>Missypie… I think it depends on the school. I have seen schools in my area where 100% of the gate goes to the athletic department budget. I have seen where 50% goes to the football program and 50% goes to the athletic department. I have seen some go to general fund, booster club, etc… My point… I think it depends on the school. The line item gets budgeted SOMEWHERE, so if a public school they should tell you easily where it goes.</p>
<p>A neighboring HS also charges for parking at their stadium. When we used to play them, the thing to do was to pay in pennies…500 of them.</p>
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<p>I have to admit that it’s a fun scene, especially in nice weather. Among the football players, cheerleaders, drill team, pep boys, spirit sisters, etc. there are so many kids involved and their parents and friends all come, so you pretty much see everyone you know.</p>
<p>I love Friday nights, though my boys don’t attend a suburban football powerhouse with amazing facilities. I just love the game.</p>
<p>LOL, I don’t love the game, but after having drill team and cheerleaders Ds, I finally *get *the game.</p>
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<p>Shouldn’t a public school be required to make that information available?</p>
<p>Of course…but the “wonder where the money goes” conversations usually occur when we’re standing around the stadium selling foam fingers or something…</p>
<p>^^^^gotcha.</p>
<p>Hey-where do the proceeds from the foam fingers go? I love those things!</p>