On preps: Group meets to search for answers

OTTERTAIL, MINN. - Three hours northwest of the Twin Cities, I saw two interesting things Wednesday.

1) O.J. Simpson.

2) The uncertain future of high school activities in Minnesota.

Word is that Simpson has a longtime female acquaintance who grew up in these parts. He was spotted in a Fargo bar Tuesday night (which worked the Fargo media horde into a serious lather), and here he was the next day in little Ottertail, population 451, chatting with folks outside the clubhouse at Thumper Pond Resort and then playing 18 holes.

But O.J. is yesterday's news. As he toured the fairways, 20 home-staters met for four hours in an upstairs room at the clubhouse. They gathered to discuss ways to keep high school sports, fine arts and other activities alive.

The alarm bells are sounding. Last September, the Star Tribune's Dean Spiros wrote about outdated, dilapidated and even nonexistent athletic facilities at Minneapolis public schools.

Fred Sailer of Perham, president of the state athletic director's association, read that story and thought, "We should all be horse-whipped for letting our programs, fields and playgrounds crumble and leave kids walking the streets."

The issue hit home again last month, when I wrote a three-part series about the financial crunch that is affecting schools large and small across the state. From tiny Grand Meadow in the south to the giant suburb of Lakeville to Brainerd and Crosby-Ironton in north-central Minnesota, school districts all over are struggling to keep activities alive.

Grand Meadow has eliminated baseball, softball and golf. Crosby-Ironton is in danger of losing all of its activities within a year or two. In Brainerd, activity fees will increase from $80 to $380 in the fall. The fee at Lakeville's two high schools is $230 and expected to increase further.

Since the school funding mechanism changed under the regime of Gov. Jesse Ventura, Minnesota has been in what Sailer called "a slash and burn mode."

"Using a wrestling term, I think we're just about to tap out on this one," he said.

Sailer decided to bring together people to work on a solution to the problem. "I didn't know how to start the process, so I just started," he told the group of administrators, coaches, politicians, school board members, business people and others.

They did not come up with any quick, simple answers Wednesday. The problem, unlike the solution, is easy to identify: More funds are needed, somehow, someway, to keep school activities alive. The possibilities are endless.

Can lottery funds be used to save activities? Could revenue from state sales taxes help? What about allowing school districts to hold referendums strictly on the question of raising money for activities? How about using a sales tax on purchases made at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, or adding a tax on clothing or Internet sales?

The anti-tax, anti-public-education howlers will surely align against any of these possibilities. They will scream, "Don't tax me; make families who want their kids involved in school activities pay for it through activity fees."

That is wrong, if not anti-American. Public education in this country is based on the premise that financial status will never be a barrier to learning, and learning takes place outside the classroom, too. If only well-to-do kids are allowed to play basketball or wrestle or join the band or the dance team or be a debater or a cheerleader or an artist, then we will have made a mess of the whole thing.

The Ottertail group will continue its work. This will be a long process, and the ultimate solution will not come cheap.

"It will cost money," Sailer said. "But to do nothing will certainly cost more."

Wish us luck, O.J. And hit 'em straight.

John Millea • jmillea@startribune.com