Orange District Athletic Directors Propose Restoration of Stipends

ORANGE — Athletic directors in the Orange Unified School District have made a proposal to restore the district coaching stipends that were reduced by 50% earlier this month.

Dave Zirkle, Orange High School boys’ athletic director, said the proposal was made Friday to the district and the Orange Unified Education Assn., which approved the cuts as part of the collective-bargaining agreement.

The proposal followed a five-hour meeting between the athletic directors and district officials, the second such meeting in as many days. Zirkle was expecting a response by today.

If the district and union approve the proposal, the athletic directors plan to bring it to the coaches at a meeting at 5 p.m. Sunday at Hart Park in Orange.

The proposal would entail other cuts in athletic programs, something athletic directors and coaches had been expecting last spring.

“I don’t think any of us are happy with this alternative,” Zirkle said. “But our primary goal was to get the full stipends back.”

Athletic directors and coaches were angered by the stipend reductions after learning of them earlier this week. They had planned the Sunday meeting to discuss a response to the cuts. One option was a boycott of all fall sports, Zirkle has said.

“(If the district and education assn. approve), it’s going to be up to the coaches to take this proposal or not,” El Modena Athletic Director Don Mott said.