It’s been a tough year for the Columbus High football team. Limited to just three home games by a COVID-19 truncated schedule, the Falcons stumbled out to an 0-3 start.

But things are looking up, lately.

Friday, Columbus defeated cross-county rival New Hope, 23-7, in its first district game of the season. Wednesday, the team — along with all other CHS sports — got another boost, courtesy of the Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees.

During a special-call meeting, the board voted unanimously to establish a new account to provide funds to cover pre-game meals for players, support staff and coaches for each competition, along with post-game snacks when those teams are on the road.

The board set the competition-day per-diem at $11.50 per person, moving $30,000 into the new account.

“This is something that has come to light with the football season already starting and other sports having started or getting ready to start,” Board President Jason Spears said in proposing the per-diem fund. “In the COVID world we’re living in, fundraising opportunities have been limited at this particular point. That’s especially true for football, which has only three home games.”

Spears noted that CHS booster clubs historically use the funds they raise to feed the roughly 500 athletes, band members and cheerleaders at CHS and Columbus Middle School on game days.

That burden, said CHS Athletic Director Joe Garrett, has always been more than booster clubs could bear. This year, he said, it’s been particularly challenging.

“The booster club does what it can do, but it’s never been enough to cover the cost of those meals,” Garrett said. “We’ve always had to use other funds in addition to what the booster club has raised. So what the board is doing is really going to help. It’s one less expense we have to worry about.”

Shirley Thompson, the CHS football booster club president, said this year has been a struggle.

“We only have about six active members so trying to supply the players with food hasn’t been easy,” she said. “Because of COVID, we’ve haven’t been able to have many of the fundraising events we normally have and when you only have three home games, it takes away a lot of money in concession sales and fundraising things we do at the games.”

Board members debated how to establish parameters for the funding, ultimately coming up with a fixed maximum per-meal allowance to ensure that players from all sports are treated equitably.

“To make it fair across the board, you basically have to have a set per-student amount,” Business Manager Holly Rogers said.

The board debated a range of per-student amounts, ultimately settling on $11.50.

Coaches will be responsible for keeping an account of how many people are fed and be required to turn in receipts for the expenses.

“This is an arbitrary figure right now,” Spears said. “We’ll be able to monitor this as it goes each month, by looking at what we’re actually spending. Any money that’s left over could go back to the general fund. At the same time, we can allocate more money if that’s needed.”

Superintendent Cherie Labat said the board’s decision should alleviate pressure on sports teams to raise funds for participating in district-approved events.

“Instead of putting the student-athletes in a compromised situation, this allows us to give some structure and make sure their needs are being met,” she said.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].