The Orcas Boosters are stepping up to the plate and hoping to hit a home run.

When winter and spring sports were cut from the school district’s budget, the booster club began an aggressive fundraising campaign that raised $11,000 to fund the winter basketball program. Private donors plus a $5,000 matching grant from the Orcas Island Education Foundation made it possible. Now the club is working on funding spring sports even though the season has already begun.

“We are working from behind the eight ball,” said booster volunteer Justin Paulsen.

Softball and golf are in full swing. The baseball team is not competing because there were not enough participants. The booster club is paying for athletic director Sandi Harris’ salary on a month-by-month basis. The head coaches’ stipends are being funded by students’ participation fees, which are $150 per student, per sport.

A total of $17,500 is still needed for transportation, officials’ fees, the athletic director’s salary and equipment fees.

“To be a part of Washington Interscholastic Activities Association you need to have an athletic director and you have to play a certain number of games,” Paulsen said. “We have to keep those minimums to keep the program going.”

In addition to a community fundraising drive, the club is securing business sponsorships. A small dent has been made in its spring goal, but there is a long way to go. The Boosters have created a tongue-in-cheek “non event” to bring in funds on April 1. “Tickets” can be purchased at www.orcasboosters.org.

The community is invited to “stay seated, leave your shoes off and relax at home by buying a ticket to our first annual Non-Event Spring Fundraiser. Don’t let the date fool you – because we are serious. The evening’s events will not start at 6 p.m., dinner will not be served at 7 p.m. and best of all, there will be no auction held at 8 p.m.!”

Paulsen says they are looking at a “fairly sizable” fundraising campaign for the fall with a “really big event with some big names.”

“Our goal is to fund athletics and eliminate participation fees for all the kids,” he said. “It’s a lofty goal but we want every kid to be able to participate … students who do sports are usually better students and better members of the community.”

The Booster Club’s target for the 2012-13 school year is $130,000. That is the base amount needed to run all of the programs. An additional $30,000 is needed to eliminate students’ fees.

“Our whole approach is that we have to support every sport equally and we have to support the entire program,” Paulsen said. “For the coming school year, we are hoping to work with the school on funding as much as they can possibly squeeze out.”

School board chair Tony Ghazel says the district is just beginning its budget process for 2012-13. The school is projecting a 600 full-time enrollment number. That number is slightly less than this year.

“We have to get a solid number by the middle of May so we can evaluate what the staffing numbers need to be,” Ghazel said. “Everything depends on the enrollment projections. At this point, I don’t have a good feel about where we will be by September.”

A few weeks ago the board voted to cut Friday bus service to offset a $120,000 cut from its current operating budget.

“We had a lot of concerns from parents and staff about the bus situation,” Ghazel said. “The last few weeks have been heart wrenching.”

A week after that decision, the Orcas Island Education Foundation donated $6500 to reinstate the bus service for the rest of the school year.

This year, OIEF has facilitated around $50,000 in donations to the district. The money has funded staffing and such programs as trips, lab tables, and the school library. The foundation is holding its annual Food for Though fundraiser on May 26.

“OIEF recognized the hardship a cut in bus service would place on many families, so we have dipped into our reserve fund so that this would not happen,” said OIEF President and school board member Janet Brownell in a press release.

“We are very thankful,” Ghazel said. “I was also concerned about the bus drivers. They need those few hours that they work.”