Jeannette to pay sports officials despite cancellation of spring sports season

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, April 25, 2020 | 11:23 AM

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The PIAA canceled spring sports across the state, but Jeannette School District still will pay the officials scheduled to work its games.

It is a gesture of appreciation, said Paul Sroka, the district’s business manager. Officials will receive $37.50 for each Jeannette game on their schedule, half of the typical $75 rate paid by the school.

“It tells the officials, we know what you’re going through,” said Sroka, who officiates college football and basketball. “While it’s not a ton of money, you’re showing that there is a certain respect or acknowledgement of what they lost.”

Customarily, if a high school game is canceled in advance, the officials aren’t paid. In this instance, the start of spring sports season was postponed twice by the PIAA before all contests were canceled statewide April 9 when Gov. Tom Wolf closed school buildings for the rest of the school year.

That left officials with no games to work.

Congress last month passed the CARES Act, which requires school districts receiving federal funds to continue to pay contractors to the “extent practicable” during disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Whether that mandate should include sports officials is “ambiguous,” said Sroka, who consulted with his district’s solicitor.

Regardless, Sroka considered it appropriate to compensate the officials.

Jeannette sponsors two spring sports — baseball and softball — and only at the varsity level. Each game requires two officials. The payments will cost the district around $1,500 of the $3,000 it had budgeted, Sroka said.

The payments will be made in May.

“We’re paying our coaches. We’re paying everybody,” Sroka said. “We’re talking about a very insignificant amount. I know the budget situation is going to be tedious … but $1,500 is not going to break the bank, and it’s not going to impact Jeannette one way or the other.”

He is optimistic other schools might follow Jeannette’s lead, but the cost would be greater in districts that offer additional sports. Along with baseball and softball, WPIAL spring sports include track and field, boys and girls lacrosse, boys tennis and boys volleyball.

Other districts also sponsor varsity, junior varsity and middle school teams.

“I would like them to (pay the officials), but everybody’s got to make their own decision,” Sroka said. “I know some of them don’t agree with me on this. … Some business managers will look at that and say, ‘Hey, I’m not paying it.’ That’s fine. I get it. Everybody has their own interpretation.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Jeannette