In more read between the lines news, Santa Rosa City Schools has an item on tonight’s agenda described as an annual fiscal analysis of competitive sports for board information and review.

Sounds tame, right?

In other times, under other circumstances a simple chart outlining what the district spends to support sports at the middle and high school level would be of little notice, but not now, when this district and countless others are looking for big ticket items to slash from their bottom lines in order to meet budget.

I know from talking on Tuesday with Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified superintendent Barbara Vrankovich that eliminating middle school sports in that district is being seriously considered.

The staff analysis of Santa Rosa’s program puts the combined drain on the general fund at $1 million a year for the combined middle and high school programs.

Is dropping those programs worth the money saved? If not, what goes in its place? School officials are fond of saying that students and parents are now consumers of education and districts and campuses need to offer what people want. Are schools without sports what people want? Even if your kid doesn’t play, isn’t there something quintessentially high school about rivals going at it on the soccer field or basketball court?

But again, if sports are saved, what goes?

On a connected note, Schools Plus, the group that sprung to life in the early 90s when similar (but not as drastic) cuts to sports and arts programs were being considered by Santa Rosa City Schools. Schools Plus has raised millions for schools, but its role has changed in recent years as individual schools have established their own foundations.

Well this budget crisis has breathed new life into Schools Plus. A revamped web site will be launched soon and the annual golf tourney in August is still on. Stay tuned here.