Marblehead athletics in the red

MARBLEHEAD – As the fall sports season comes to a successful end, sports and extra-curricular activities are running at a $64,000 deficit – and school officials are hoping the Thanksgiving Day Swampscott-Marblehead football game will help to balance that area of the budget.Thursday’s game is in Marblehead this year.Perhaps ironically, it is the revenue from the fine arts programs in Grades 4-12 that is helping to keep that deficit at a manageable level.The School Department budgeted $370,822 for sports and activities in Grades 4-12 and charges students $202,765 in fees to help cover expenses – a total of $573,587 to cover $648,108 in fall expenses.Programs are also funded by $69,362 in ticket receipts and $1,224 in donations to the high school sports program.According to a comprehensive first-time report from School Business Manager Jonathan Goldfield Thursday evening, compiled with the assistance of administrator Steven Medeiros, it is the Marblehead High athletics program and the athletics and clubs and intramural sports programs at the Marblehead Veterans Middle School that are running in the red.However, their combined $63,919 deficit has been offset so far by $59,984 in the budget, fees and other revenue from the fine arts programs and the Marblehead Village School clubs and intramural sports.The actual deficit as of Thursday was $3,935.Goldfield included per-pupil figures on each activity column.Students who participate in Marblehead High athletics pay $455 fees to do so and the $44,574 deficit amounts to $41 per student. Students who participate in Marblehead Veterans Middle School athletics program paid $218 fees and their per-student share of the $11,416 deficit is $88. Students who participated in the Marblehead Veterans Middle School clubs and intramural sports paid a $320 fee and their per-student share of the deficit is $102.”The Thanksgiving game is a good chunk of our gate receipts,” Goldfield told the School Committee. He cautioned them that the revenue numbers are lower than expected because “We still haven’t collected everything for the year.””This is more of a subject for discussion than reaction,” he said. “I’m confident that we’ll be able to get our arms around this.”School Committee members expressed their appreciation for the one-page report. “We want to make sure we know where all the money goes,” said Chairman Dick Nohelty.