The Lincoln County School Board approved a budget change Mondaythat transferred $24,000 from the district maintenance budget intothe activity funds of two county schools, an emergency measure tobolster the schools’ activities programs.

The allotments of $12,000 to each school, Enterprise and BogueChitto, were to compensate for dropping sports revenues – a newproblem to the county caused by the recent redistricting of 1Afootball.

“It’s just a period of time where we have to adjust to newscheduling and get used to not having the gates we normally have,”said Lincoln County School District Superintendent Terry Brister.”Basically, the redistricting did away with our main rivalries, andthat’s our big money gates that helped carry our athleticprograms.”

Brister said the gate revenues from in-county rivalries, whichare no longer played because of the new 1A district schedules, werethe main source of funding for school sports programs.

“Football is the main gate – it helps carry softball, baseball,tennis, golf…” Brister pointed out. “Those are the main gates weuse to make sure those activities are taken care of. When they’reshort, it puts us in a bind.”

Besides the loss of in-county rivalries, the new 1A sportsdistricts are driving up the cost of transport.

Some county schools are now forced to play against schools fromthe Gulf Coast that are as far as 150 miles away from LincolnCounty – an expensive Friday night journey for the schools, withfuel costs approaching $4 per gallon. Schools also have to paymileage fees to the state for the use of the buses in anyactivities travel, Brister said.

“We used to play the in-county rivalries, and we’d have to go,what – seven or eight miles?” Brister said. “Now we have to go toJackson, to the Coast, to Mount Olive – that’s a lot of travel, andit cuts down on gates.”

The long distance has also cut down on attendance.

Brister recalled in-county football rivalries that would havefans still in line to purchase tickets into the second quarter ofplay. Now, when schools from the coast visit, only a handful ofopposing players’ parents make the long journey, leaving theopposing side’s bleachers almost empty.

County schools are unable to take scheduling matters into theirown hands to fix the problem.

“There’s not enough room in the new schedules to put our rivalrygames back in place,” Brister said.

Brister said the school district has pleaded its case to theMississippi High School Activities Association, the entityresponsible for drawing up the sports districts, but no optionsexist.

“We’ve discussed it with them, but this is the best way they cancome up with,” Brister said. “All the classifications are laid out,and this is the best scheduling the state can do.”

The Lincoln County School Board plans to meet with its schoolsin the coming months for brainstorming sessions, hoping to find aremedy to the problem. The board has already considered a furthertransfer of $10,000 to the two most-affected schools in the future,though the trend cannot continue.

“We’ve talked about making plans for the future because of thesituation we’re in,” Brister said. “We’re just not used to this -we’re used to having those big gates to keep our programsgoing.”

While no action has thus far been taken, the school board isconsidering raising the price of football tickets from $4 to $5,the standard for most other schools. The $4 football tickets havelong been a bonus for county residents, but now the cheaperadmission is a problem.

“We lose a dollar per night,” Brister said. “When our fans goanywhere else, they have to pay $5. We give people coming here adiscount.”

If all else fails, some sports programs around the county mayface cuts.

“We don’t know yet,” Brister said. “We’re gonna have to see whatour schools need and find places where we can trim somethingoff.

“One thing I want to make clear is that this is not the schools’fault,” Brister said. “It’s just an adjustment we’ve had to makeover the last couple of years while getting used to the newschedule.”