Trinity alum

It isn't the Kentucky PUBLIC High School Athletic Association. When is it going to sink in that our kids are every bit as much entitled to participation as much as anyone else.

WOW! Are you saying that total expenditures for a high school student in Kentucky are only $4,375 per year? That isn't a lot. With a teacher to student ratio of 20:1, that's only $87,500 per year for everything from teacher salary, to administration, to building operations, to supplies. WOW!

I think that DIII may be a good analogy. In DIII you can't give athletic scholarships, but there is no problem with financial aid based on other criteria. Sounds a lot like the current rules in Kentucky.

You just hit on the heart of the issue. It isn't about kicking out private schools. Schools are just buildings. These proposals are about kicking out KIDS, our kids. If people come after our kids, they are going to get a fight. And you are right HS athletics are for the kids, and that includes our kids.

I am fine with any separation that uses reasonable criteria. A proposal that says that if you attend a private school and don't have enough money you can't play sports is a really bad idea and one that will generate a really bad response.

I can't see where that would do much except put schools like Holy Cross, DeSales, Country Day, CAL, LCA etc. into the top class. The schools that win most of the titles are already among the largest schools in the state (Trinity and St X for the boys, Sacred Heart and Assumption for the girls). If you set the size cutoff at a point where the number of schools in the top class is a reasonable number, it would look a lot like today's 4A.

No financial aid to individual students is a deal breaker. Forty percent of the students at Trinity receive financial aid. High school athletics are of educational benefit to students. If they aren't, they should be eliminated. How can we tell forty percent of our students that they can't participate in a major portion of the educational program? I have no problem with rules that say that financial aid must be offered without regard to athletic participation. The current rules say that. Anything that tells us to discriminate against forty percent of our kids (based on their economic status) is just plain wrong. Would anyone vote for a proposal that said that kids that receive free or reduced price lunches can't play?

If Bill Gates decided to open a computer company and take on IBM, do you think IBM had an advantage over him? Was he able to compete against them? Something to think about. With that said, I do believe that the private schools have some very significant advantages. They have to because they also have a nearly $8,000 per year disadvantage. It only stands to reason that they must have some advantages that overcome the $8,000 disadvantage. I think that the thing that gets me upset about this conversation is that the advantages of the private schools are self generated. I have trouble when people say that the private schools have more resources, since we generate those resources ourselves, AFTER we have paid for the tuition. A school like Trinity is able to exist and be open to all economic classes only because there are many folks that have a very strong belief that what Trinity provides is worth preserving and continue to provide generous support long after they graduate. My sons have graduated, but now I need to make sure that Trinity is there for my grandsons. When someone says that the private schools have more resources, I wonder how they voted on the last school tax referendum? When was the last time they wrote out a check to their school's library? When was the last time they wrote out a check to their school's athletic program? When was the last time they worked or attended a fund raiser? I know that many will say that they do all of those things. Will you still be doing it long after your children have graduated? Will you sill be doing it when your high school years are only a distant memory? I received a copy of the Trinity Leader yesterday. As always, the list of donations from long ago graduates is amazing. For those that believe that the private schools are only for the rich, think about this. About forty percent of the Trinity students receive financial aid. On top of that, generous donations keep the tuition about $2,000 below the actual cost of the education. If you want more resources for your school, start a petition to raise school taxes. Start a campaign to create an endowment for your school system. Make the first check to the endowment yours. By the way, this post is not directed at LBBC. The response to the Bill Gates comment is the only part that was directed at LBBC.

My 6'1" sons were 5'6" as sophmores. Kids grow at different times. I'll let the coaches pick the QB. I'll just show up and enjoy.

I'm not very interested in developing a list of who goes where or why. My gut feel is that more total students leave the Catholic Schools for the public schools, and more "star" athletes leave the public schools for the Catholic Schools. It is a personal decision in either case. But I will point out that a lot of kids leave public schools for reasons other than sports and a lot of kids leave Catholic Schools for reasons other than money. It's not any of our business why they move. I'll tell you something else. I suggest Trinity to EVERY young man or his parents I meet. I tell them about financial aid and anything else I can think of. P.S. Add another name to your list - Phil Simms, St Rita and Southern High School, not to mention Ram95

Oxnard, I think you've made a mistake. More likely you've misinterpreted something you read. The Archdiocese doesn't give Trinity money. My guess is that either there was a contribution to Trinity made through the Archdiocese or they provided a bridge loan of some kind. And by the way, the only work that is under construction is a new wing with nine classrooms and two labs.

ram95, The Marshall Center is not a football only facility. If Trinity were co-ed, it would be used by all students. Title IX would not be an issue. As I said above, there are always twenty people to tell you why it can't be done and one to do it. We did a survey at our church. More of our parish kids attend public schools than any other. As far as which athletes receive financial aid, I have no idea. It's not any of my business, or anyone else's for that matter.

I'm sorry, but you could come up with a long list of reasons why it can't be done. When Trinity set out to raise 3.3 million to build the Marshall Center, Shamrock Hall and to put $1,000,000 in the endowment fund, they were told that it couldn't be done. There weren't enough alumni, the alumni weren't old enough, it was too soon after the fundraisers for Alumni Hall, it was too much money etc. The campaign raised 3.9 million. The point is, for every 20 people that tell you why it can't be done, there is one that will prove them wrong by doing it.

Some of the rumors I've heard concern Trinity's recent campus improvements, especially the Marshall Center and Trinity's planned football stadium. It seems that there are those that feel that The Marshall Center and a full time conditioning coach somehow give Trinity an unfair advantage. I think that the real motivation behind a boycott is that they look at what is going on at Trinity and think that they will be unable or unwilling to compete. My advice is that if you want a facility like the Marshall Center, contact your alumni, parents and boosters and raise the money to build one. If you want a full time conditioning coach, raise the money to fund the position. Families have been making the decision that Trinity is best for them for many years, but during that time most of the athletic facilities were awful. Trinity turns fifty years old in 2003. Our alumni are getting old enough to get into prime giving years, so beginning in the early 90's Trinity was able to upgrade first the academic facilities, and later the athletic facilities. The results have been tremendous. Enrollment is up by almost 300 students and still growing. That has necessitated another new classroom wing (the third classroom expansion since 1991). I think that the real issue for the JCPS's is that Trinity is succeeding in the marketplace, and that scares them to death.

Ram95, I think you said it yourself, the person that handed out the fliers was from the archdiocese, not Trinity. Second, if he came from the archdiocese, the invitation would be for all of the Catholic schools, not just Trinity or x. Third, they can only pass out that kind of material with the permission of the administration. Buckman, I'll only buy the Title IX excuse when someone shows me that the Catholic girls schools can't raise money. The problem isn't Title IX. The problem is the way most public schools raise money. First the money is usually raised for a specific sport. If the fundraising was centralized for the school, I think some of the problems would go away. Second, if the schools would work harder to involve alumni in the school they would develop a loyal donor base. That donor base is the key.

I think that the problem in Lexington is basketball because that's where Lex Cath has had the most success. In Louisville, it's football because of the success Trinity and x have had. I think that part of the problem now is the improvements Trinity has made and is planning. When theTrinity campus improvements are finished it will feel and look like a small college campus. I can understand that some schools will have trouble competing. I don't see it as Trinity's problem. There will be one school that will upgrade its facilities to compete - x.

Let me see if I can picture this. Come to Trinity and get a top quality education, learn life skills and values that will serve you your entire life, play the best teams in a multi-state region, play in a new state of the art stadium, play a rivalry game in front of 35,000 fans, work out in a college type training facility with a staff that has worked for a national championship college team, have the best coaching available and compete for the state title every year. Or, go somewhere else and hear that you could compete for the title IF Trinity wasn't getting an unfair share of the good athletes. Yeah, that boycott should work really well.

Yoda asked a question about scholarships. Let me see if I can answer. First, Trinity awards academic scholarships. They are awarded based on the rusults of the placement test and performance in school. Athletics play NO part in determining Trinity and Steinhauser scholarship winners. Trinity also offers need based financial aid. Anyone is welcome to apply. Awards are based on need, not athletic ability. The question was "What public school can compete with scholarships?" The answer, of course, is that every student in a public school is on a taxpayer financed financial aid program.

To namecipS, We're working on that exception!

I'm on the other side from some of the Trinity posters because I think we have a lot of advantages, including size, tradition, coaching, facilities, etc. I'm proud of all of them. If anyone can think of any advantages we don't have (within the rules) let us know, we'll see if we can get those too! The reason I'm so proud of all of those advantages is that they are ALL generated within the Trinity community.

To The Man, As I've said earlier, I think that Trinity has many advantages. We have to have advantages because we have to convince the marketplace that it is worth $6,500 a year to attend Trinity instead of a public school for free. People will fall into three categories - those that don't feel it is worth the extra money and choose to attend the puplic schools; those that feel it is worth the money and can afford to pay; and those who feel it is worth the money but can't afford it. The goal of the financial aid program is to make the third group as small as possible. Obviously this applies to any private school, not just Trinity. You have pointed out that being larger is an advantage. (I agree.)You haven't said whether you believe the advantage is unfair or requires a remedy.

Trinity's success predates KERA. Find another whipping boy. On the question of financial aid, NO NO NO, we will not give up offering financial aid. To do so would turn Trinity into a haven for only the upper middle class. That is exactly the wrong thing to do. A diverse student population is important.

I think that the thing that gets most of the Trinity people upset is the implication that there is something unfair about Trinity's size or other advantages. In reality, we start with a $6,500 disincentive and still manage to compete in the marketplace where students and parents decide where to go for high school. The marketplace says that Trinity has advantages that are worth a lot of money. I'm proud of it.

Guys, I have to agree, size does matter. So do support, tradition, expectations, feeder schools, coaching, facilities etc. We work very hard to make sure Trinity has ALL of those advantages and any others we can think of. Those advantages are NOT unfair. I need to make a correction. In the 1968-69 school year, Trinity was almost as large as it is today. In 1969, Trinity graduated 301. The 60's were a period of very rapid growth.