Some popular and enduring student programs in Flagstaff Unified School District might be cut back as school officials brace themselves for continued cuts to state aid.

Sports, Camp Colton, pre-school, all-day kindergarten and the Teenage Parent Program (TAPP) draw at least a portion of their funds from FUSD's main maintenance and operations (M&O) budget, which is expected to shrink by millions this winter and again this summer as the state whittles away at its deficit.

Program administrators will offer basic operations information to the school board today at an informational work session. The board will not take any action, but the public is invited to observe.

SPORTS, CAMP HAVE MANY FUNDING SOURCES

George Moate, district athletic director, said his contribution will be in the context of administrators' recent suggestion to pare three high schools down to two.

That means Moate has to think in fractions of thirds: one-third fewer spots available on rosters, or one-third fewer teams.

Those aren't perfect thirds, depending on the current size of a team and how many teams can absorb athletes from an eliminated school. But it's possible that not every player will be able to continue his or her sport with more candidates for a similar number of spots.

"There will be some pain felt, but (we'll) try to mitigate it as much as possible," Moate said. "If you have a football team that was operating on 33 kids, you could probably go up to 42 or 43 pretty easily and absorb some of that."

The current, districtwide sports budget is about $1.1 million per year total. About $550,000 to $600,000 comes from the general district fund, or less than 1 percent of the overall budget; the rest is raised through fundraising and gifts, booster clubs, gate receipts, pay-to-play fees and tax credit donations.

Moate said he expects a general discussion with the school board.

"I don't think they're going to sit there and say, 'This sport survives, that sport doesn't survive,'" he said. "I don't think they're going into that kind of detail."

HALF OF CAMP COLTON FUNDS FROM FUSD

Cameron Kern, who oversees Camp Colton as FUSD's Director of Environmental and Outdoor Education, said he is optimistic that area sixth-graders will still have a science camp experience next year.

Camp Colton has walked a bumpy funding path before. When it started in 1971 it had full district financial support, but varying district fiscal crises have caused the program's budget to fluctuate, for one reason or another, for about 20 years.

In 2001, the nonprofit Friends of Camp Colton emerged as a fundraising arm. In large part since then, Camp Colton has subsisted off outside funding sources, but FUSD had been making a comeback in the last couple of years, Kern said.

Camp Colton now operates on a total annual budget of $345,463. Kern said about half of that comes from FUSD, and the other half comes from outside sources, including tax credits, fundraising events and tuition from other northern Arizona school districts that send their students to camp (the week-long residential camp is free for locals, or $300 per student for out-of-towners). About 1,000 children per year attend camp, which is nestled against the San Francisco Peaks near Hart Prairie.

Kern and Camp Colton fundraiser Tracy Anderson, whose salary and benefits are privately funded, will both be available to answer board members' questions Tuesday.

"Camp has still been able to maintain its 5-day core program that it has for over 30 years, so I still feel good and I'm confident that the efforts that have been made, by myself and individuals and FUSD, that camp will survive — I sure hope so," Kern said.

PART OF A BIG SLATE

The items on Tuesday's agenda are M&O-funded programs that do not receive dollars from specific federal grants or budget overrides. However, programs that were subsidized by the override — including several arts and physical education offerings and some sports, along with several general teaching positions that hold down class sizes — are also being closely evaluated since voters rejected an extension of the $5.7 million annual override earlier this month.

Officials looked at secondary school consolidation plans last week. Next week, they plan to discuss future elementary campus use. More detailed presentations on districtwide personnel aren't slated until January.

Top administrators have estimated general state aid reductions at up to $2.7 million this winter and between $5 million and $13 million next year. The state has already cut funding to FUSD's M&O budget by more than $6 million within the last calendar year.

Hillary Davis can be reached at hdavis@azdailysun.com or 556-2261.