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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Republic’s programs threatened

J.D. Larson Correspondent

Fourteen months ago, Republic’s boys basketball team cut down the nets at the Spokane Arena after winning the State B championship.

Most of the small Ferry County town watched from the stands.

Now, after a second operating levy failed by four votes three weeks ago, the town will have to raise more than $100,000 in the next two months to fund the school’s athletics, music programs and for additional science equipment.

Without the money, there will be no sports in Republic next year.

Republic developed an “all or nothing” philosophy, deciding to either fund all activities covered by the levy, or cut them completely.

It starts with a goal to raise $140,000 by Aug. 1 to be included in the Panorama League’s fall sports schedule. If they raise enough to cover fall sports, they may try to play through the fall season while continuing to raise money for winter and spring sports.

“We formed a committee and we’re going to try to raise funds with a number of different activities,” Republic High School principal and athletic director Nancy Giddings said. “We’re going to send letters out to people asking for pledges, asking for what would have been the tax money. We have to do it so quickly, because we have to know by the beginning of August. It’s frightening.”

Darin Richardson, chairman of the committee formed to raise funds, sees this as becoming a sports versus academics debate in the town, when that’s not the real issue.

“We’re not trying to say that we’re raising money for sports, that’s the reason it didn’t pass,” said Richardson, who moved to Republic from San Diego three years ago.

“As a result of the lack of funding, sports might have to be cut. This is kind of the beginning, though. It’s the first step in the dissolution of the town.”

Richardson sees the committee as continuing to help underfunded schools even after trying to solve the problem in Republic.

“It’s ongoing, not just for 2005-2006,” Richardson said. “We will be working on fixing this statewide. When levies don’t pass, there is nothing the state has in place to support the school. This year, it’s sports. Next, it could be a loss of funding for the whole school.”

Curlew School District, 22 miles north of Republic, passed a levy with 60.98 percent support, less than a percentage point over the necessary 60-percent level.

A similar levy failed in the Cusick School District, but the district circumvented the elimination of athletics by stretching nearly everything else.

“We eliminated assistant coaches and we went from two principals to one principal,” Cusick superintendent Kristi Harwood said. “We dealt with a lot of things before we even got to other programs like sports. Everybody feels the pinch, athletics as well.”

The failure of Republic’s levy magnifies a split between a sports-crazy town and an increasing number of retirees moving into the area with no prior connection to Republic.

“I think there’s an impression that we put too much into athletics,” Republic wrestling coach Jim Gubler said. “These guys need to be convinced that there are values in practice and applying yourself even if nobody watches. The first priority is what they get out of it without an audience.”

Gubler has a daughter on a track scholarship at Spokane Falls Community College, another daughter who is a three-sport athlete at Republic and a son who will be a freshman next year.

“I don’t know what we’d do without sports,” Gubler said. “I’m not even going to consider that. I don’t think the community is going to allow that. We plan all our free time around athletic events.”

Another parent and coach, boys basketball head coach John Gianukakis, has to think about the possibility there won’t be any sports at Republic next year.

Gianukakis’ son, Zach, who will be a senior next year, was the Associated Press and Seattle Times State B basketball player of the year in 2004. His other son, Derek, who will be a junior, may have a chance to play baseball collegiately.

“This doesn’t bode really well for my family,” Gianukakis said. “That’s a lot of money to raise in a small town. I have to (move) if we don’t have guaranteed sports here.”

Athletics may be his kids’ ticket to a college education, but it’s more than that to Gianukakis, who was raised in Republic and has coached many of the basketball players since they were in third grade.

“I’m really torn right now,” he said. “It’s pretty sad. We’ve put a lot of time in here, and we’ve got a lot of time into these other kids, too.”

Other community concerns in Republic deal with what exactly the kids in the town, without a movie theatre or bowling alley and isolated in north-central Washington, would do without athletics.

“There are kids who are on the edge here,” said Dianne Hewitt, who has two kids who graduated from Republic and another who just entered high school.

“But maybe they are working hard to stay in school to play football. They’re at a crossroads, and without that option, they may take the wrong path.”