Due to recent budget cuts, the school will not be able to provide bus transportation to sporting events for team members. The lack of a football team to bring in revenue to pay for uniforms, officials, coaches and transportation has caused Principal Rick Fleming to make a decision to either cut uniforms, officials or transportation.

“It was a difficult decision to make, but we can’t do without uniforms because I don’t want kids running around in T-shirts, and we need officials also or else we couldn’t compete in games and matches, so transportation was the one to go,” Fleming said.

Brevard Public Schools normally takes the total money that is collected from sporting events, mainly football games, and pools it into a one pot of money for all the schools in the district and distributes it evenly. This process, the athletic equality line, has been in effect for several years to provide equal amounts of money to the different schools in the district.

“For us, it is hard raising as much money compared to schools such as Eau Gallie and Melbourne High because we don’t have a football team,” said Kim Shepherd, the new athletics director. “It stinks because the parents have now taken on the burden of transporting their kids to and from games.”

Under the revised policy,  the schools keep the money that they make from football games and other sporting events and use it to fund uniforms, officials and transportations. Due to the lack of a football team, the money flow for West Shore is low, resulting in the cut of team bus transportation to sporting events.

“It is upsetting because now our team can no longer bond and create memories that we had last year on the bus,” sophomore Hannah Krasny said.