Otters tickets redeemed by Millcreek students at low rate [Erie Times-News, Pa.]

Oct. 16--The Millcreek Township School District appears to have received less value out of an agreement with the Erie Otters junior hockey team than previously thought.

Ticket redemptions by Millcreek students were much lower than anticipated in a deal with the Otters that allows high school-age players to attend McDowell Senior High School tuition free.

Under terms of the agreement, the school district receives advertising on radio, television and at Erie Insurance Arena, community service from players and a total of 7,500 free tickets to games for Millcreek students.

However, only 1,567 of those tickets were redeemed by students during the 2012-13 school year, according to the Otters' records. About 79 percent of the allotted tickets -- a total of 5,933 -- went unused.

The 2012 agreement between the Otters and the school district stated that the 7,500 tickets had a value of $108,750 and the tickets' "expected redemption value" was $54,374, or 50 percent of the allotment. Instead, the redeemed value of the tickets for last season amounted to $22,721.50, using the agreement's stated rate of $14.50 per ticket.

A report released by Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale in July was critical of the school district for some of its fiscal practices. Part of the state audit's criticism focused on the agreement between the district and Otters. The audit said the agreement cost taxpayers $40,271 from 2005-12.

The audit also questioned the overall value of the district's agreement with the Otters and criticized school district officials for poor record keeping relating to the terms of the deal.

Otters and district officials have changed their annual agreement in an effort to allow more students to utilize the free-ticket offer. They also said they are making improvement in others ways -- starting with better record keeping -- to alleviate concerns among township residents stemming from a budget deficit that started at $8.8 million.

"I think they'll feel better if at the end of (the) next year we can come forward with a report (stating) specifically what happened with this agreement for this year and explain it," Millcreek schools Superintendent William Hall said.

Terms of agreement

Despite the audit's findings and the ticket shortfall, Millcreek Township School District and Otters officials insist the agreement is beneficial for both parties.

John Frey, the Otters' director of operations since March 2012, said the school district still receives plenty of value for waiving tuition fees for the Otters' players.

"We've delivered on every side of what we've said we would deliver. They have delivered on their side," Frey said of an affiliation that has existed since 2000. "If anybody has the perception that we didn't deliver what we were supposed to deliver, I think that's unfair."

In addition to the tickets, Assistant to the Superintendent Darcie Moseley said, the school district receives two arena rink boards worth $15,000, two advertisements read during each of the Otters' television broadcasts, which are valued at $4,000, and three radio advertisements -- two live and one pre-produced -- valued at $2,250. She said the district also holds special events at schools featuring Otters players, but records of those events were incomplete.

Last spring, Otters officials provided the district with a corporate partnership report for the 2012-13 school year. It featured photos of the rink boards, students with their families at the two school night games, and students from three schools who sang the national anthem before those games. But the Otters included the total attendance at those games -- 4,439 fans Jan. 5 and 4,490 fans March 2 -- instead of the 1,567 people who attended as part of those school nights.

The records also highlighted the district's radio and television advertisements, and player appearances at schools that included event dates, school names and the events held. Starting this year, Frey said, records for those appearances also will feature player names and the specific amount of time players spent at those events.

"We're going to track, so if anybody asks, we can tell them who did what," Frey said.

In exchange for what the agreement calls "in-kind services," the Otters' high school-age players attend McDowell for free.

Under district policy, families of students attending McDowell who live outside Millcreek must pay tuition totaling $9,576.87 for the current school year. Two of the Otters' nine players currently attending the school live with billet families in the city of Erie, while a third player resides in Fairview Township, which adds up to $28,730.61 in tuition fees.

Moseley said five players are considered Millcreek residents because they are living with families in the township this season, which runs from September through March for the regular season and can extend into late May for the playoffs. She said those families have filed required paperwork for proof of residency and guardianship of the players. A sixth player lives in Millcreek but is enrolled in a Canadian online charter school.

Evolving ticket plan

Students from nine Millcreek elementary, middle and high schools can attend three Otters games for free this season at <location>Erie Insurance Arena. Students can redeem two tickets apiece to those games on Nov. 23, Jan. 12 and March 8. In the past, students had received one free ticket. In addition, students had the option of just two school games last season.

District officials hope that the plan's expansion better utilizes the 7,500 available tickets this season.

Frey was unable to locate ticket sales for school nights from seasons prior to 2012-13, although he said he believed totals were comparable to that season.

Moseley said a future deal might allow Millcreek residents to take advantage of the ticket offer.

"It is something that we want to look at, but quite frankly the agreement that we're under now very specifically spells out that those benefits can only go to students," she said. "That would be something when we review the agreement, the board would need to take a position to open that up."

Hall said concern within the community centered on how many tickets were being used and who was using them. He said tickets don't go through the Millcreek Education Center, and district officials don't get tickets.

"It's something that was not being relayed accurately," Hall said.

District officials are working with principals at each school to implement a streamlined procedure that should be in place before the first school night game in November, Moseley said. Principals will work with Frey "to track the number of tickets for Millcreek schools."

Both sides admit the agreement wasn't monitored closely enough in past years, in part because of turnover on their respective staffs. The responsibility of overseeing the deal, Hall said, was "passed around a little bit internally. It didn't really rest with any one person."

A key phase of the restructuring process within the district includes having specific personnel monitoring the agreement. Moseley is handling the duties on an interim basis.

"Part of the discussion moving forward internally (is) who's going to monitor it, who's going to collect all the information," Hall said.

Frey, who oversees the deal for the Otters, said "record keeping hasn't always been the best."

That needs to change, so they can prove the agreement benefits the Otters and school district equally.

"That's the goal of the agreement -- to show a balance," Hall said. "We need to keep a closer watch. ... So when the auditors look back, they can say this agreement is giving the taxpayers and the district the (most) bang for its buck in terms of a return investment" for allowing the Otters to attend school tuition free.

Deal's future uncertain

Hall recently formed a citizens advisory committee, and its first order of business was to study the agreement.

"At the end of the meeting," Hall said, "the majority (of the committee members) said it's not an issue."

Frey said the agreement received a positive response at a recent School Board meeting.

"Even the most vocal non-School Board people in the audience were in support of the program," Frey said, "because it's not a lose situation."

The school board votes in March whether to retain the agreement for the 2014-15 school year, after members review reports from the Otters and school district officials. The board must notify the Otters by March 17 if the deal won't be renewed. If the board votes in favor, members still can vote to amend it.

An agreement stipulation about the district's ability to provide tickets to business partners likely will be discussed.

"I'm sure way back, (it was used) when they probably had business partners set up," said Hall, who joined the school district in 2009. "But since I've been here, I'm not aware of any partners."

Hall said it's possible the affiliation with the Otters could end in the future. But for now, both sides are ready to move forward.

"We're going to do what we've always done, maybe in a little greater detail," Frey said.

"It's a feather in our cap that they're choosing us," Hall said. "Our district is where they want to be."

VICTOR FERNANDES can be reached at 870-1716 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/goeriehockey. Read the Shootout hockey blog at GoErie.com/blogs/shootout and post comments.

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