No stipend raises for Barrington High School coaches ... again
Coaches react: ‘The district should be ashamed’
During the last 12 years, Barrington High School sports team coaches have received one raise.
From 2012 to 2022, Eagles coaches’ stipends were frozen in place, due in part to the …
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No stipend raises for Barrington High School coaches ... again
Coaches react: ‘The district should be ashamed’
During the last 12 years, Barrington High School sports team coaches have received one raise.
From 2012 to 2022, Eagles coaches’ stipends were frozen in place, due in part to the teachers’ union decision to stop negotiating the coaches’ pay as part of the teachers’ contract. But in 2023, district administrators increased and evened out coaching stipends.
Some coaches thought the 2 percent raise would be done annually moving forward, but that is not the case.
At a meeting at the start of the fall sports season, Barrington High School coaches learned there would be no stipend increases this year. Bill Barrass, who coaches the boys indoor and outdoor track teams, said the BHS coaches were disappointed by the decision.
“I think there was a gasp when it was shared that there was no increase,” Barrass said. “Nobody’s in it for the money. But at least in the past, those small increases were some acknowledgement that the work we are doing is valued.”
The coaching stipends range from $615 for the assistant cheerleading coach position to $6,645 for the head football coach position. In total, the district is expected to pay $264,002 in coaching stipends this year. A 3 percent raise for all 50 coaches would equate to about $8,000.
George Finn is the Director of Athletics and Student Activities for Barrington Schools. He said he appreciates everything his coaches do for the school, the students and the community.
“I advocate for and support the coaches every year,” Finn said. “These coaches are committed, that’s the way I look at it.”
Finn said finding the money to support annual coaching stipend raises can be challenging at times. He said there have been academic and student support positions the district has identified as a need but is still not able to fund.
“There are competing interests for the dollars the school district has,” Finn said, adding that he will definitely be looking at coaching stipend raises during the upcoming budget cycle.
“I certainly support and advocate for our coaches,” he said. “I appreciate everything they do.”
Half a century
Sandy Gorham coaches multiple sports teams at Barrington High School every year.
In the fall, Gorham serves as head coach of the varsity football team. In the winter, he coaches the boys and girls swim teams, and in the spring, Gorham coaches the softball team.
Gorham, who will celebrate 50 years of coaching next year, said the decision to not include a nominal increase for coaches this year stings a bit.
“Yes. Sure. As a coach who’s coached years and years and never seen an increase, I’m a little disappointed,” he said. “A little bit of an increase every once in a while makes you feel like you’re valued.”
Gorham, like most Barrington High School coaches, work far beyond the time involved in the actual practices and games.
“It’s a lot of time,” he said. “I know a lot of coaches put in a lot of time.”
Anne Gasbarro is head coach of the BHS field hockey team. Shortly after it was announced that there would be no raises for coaches this year, Gasbarro wrote a letter to administrators.
“These students come to us with far more than their athletic interests,” she wrote. “They come to be part of something — a team that teaches them how to collaborate, become the best athlete they can, to lean on each other, learn to function with others, work toward a goal and importantly learn how to balance outside interests with the pressures of rigorous academics and family life …”
Gasbarro wrote that coaches also fill countless other roles for student-athletes, beyond teaching them the Xs and Os of the game.
“Letters or recommendation, college advice, statistics on their game, advice on classes, friendships, off-season training, skill advice, emotional advice, wanting to discuss an injury or injury prevention, their hopes for an upcoming season — and the list goes on…” Gasbarro wrote.
“All five of my children have played on several teams at Barrington High School, and every single one of them had coaches that put in the same level of effort, care, love of the sport and understanding and deep commitment to their programs and their athletes. The role these coaches play is top notch and critical to our athletes. Barrington is so fortunate to have so many of the men and women coaching at the high school level.”
She concluded: “The district should be ashamed at the compensation provided to the invaluable coaches who provide lifetime experiences for the majority of the high school students…”
No confidence
Christian Lambert is head coach of the Barrington High School boys volleyball team and assistant coach of the girls volleyball team. He said coaches are not asking the administration for any retroactive pay for increases missed over the last 12 years. He just wants to see a plan for raises moving forward.
“I would like to see the school officials create a consistent schedule of increases for their Rhode Island Interscholastic League-certified coaches,” Lambert said. “I do not currently have confidence that that will happen.”
Lambert said many coaches believed the district would be including nominal increases for coaches after officials raised coaching stipends last season. The 2 percent increases followed 11 years of stagnant stipends, which left some coaches feeling undervalued, Lambert said.
But in 2023 school officials worked to update coaches’ pay.
“We thought the district would honor that increase,” Lambert said.
After news broke that there would not be raises this year, Coach Barrass called for a meeting with district administrators. He said he felt the meeting was a step in the right direction, although he assumed that any change in stipends would likely only come in the future and not the current year.
“I don’t know how it works going forward. I thought we made a lot of head-way last year…” Barrass said.
Coach Gorham said that it is important to remember that there are many “needs and wants” that pull on the school department budget each year. He said the administrators have a difficult task building and balancing the budget. But, he added, school officials should remember the valuable role extracurricular activities play in the school district and throughout the community.
“Extra curricular activities are the heart and soul of the school,” Gorham said.
