There's no reason to panic about a 4 percent cut in the Schedule C salaries at Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington, but there is cause for concern.

The J-Hawks, Cougars and Warriors will still have quality coaches and quality programs in their athletic departments and fine arts programs, but the budget is getting stretched fairly thin.

Chris Deam, the athletic director at Jefferson, found a creative way to slash $20,000 from his budget, mostly through the dedication and generosity of coaches who have agreed to work for less money so they could stay involved.

But Deam warns that another 4 percent cut in the future might seriously harm those extracurricular programs, which he correctly calls the best dropout prevention program the schools have to offer.

The bigger problem for Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington could come in the realm of public perception. Linn-Mar High School has built a sports palace the past few years with a new stadium for football, soccer and track, a gorgeous natatorium and a baseball/softball complex that features four varsity diamonds.

Cedar Rapids Prairie also is growing with new schools and new fields in the College Community School District. Meanwhile, the three high schools in the Cedar Rapids community district - Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington - are landlocked with nowhere to breathe, even if they had money to expand.

Put yourself in the shoes of a young, upwardly mobile family that's moving to the Metro area to work for one of the major employers in our area. They've got money and two talented kids who love to play sports.

The parents ask their new co-workers and real estate agent about the local school systems, wondering where they should live. What advice do you think they'll get?

Do you want to live in a school district that appears to be pouring money into its extracurricular activities, or do you want to live in a school district that appears to be shrinking?

What are Linn-Mar and Prairie going to look like in 5, 10 or 25 years? And how about Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington? That's the problem.

Certainly, Linn-Mar and Prairie do not have a monopoly on the best teams. Far from it. They have their share, but so do Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington. But again, what will be happening a decade from now at those schools?

You really cannot blame the Cedar Rapids school district for cutting 4 percent from the Schedule C contracts. The district slashed approximately $6 million from the total budget for the 2014-15 school year, so it's not like the school board is picking on athletics. There were hard choices to make and many programs had to make sacrifices.

There's a moratorium on purchasing new books for the high school libraries, for instance, and certainly books are vital to any school system.

The Cedar Rapids schools have experienced declining enrollments in recent years, although there was a modest gain this past school year. Less money has been available for the public schools and administrators are trying to stretch precious dollars the best they can.

So far, no programs have been eliminated. So far, the three high schools have found a way to staff their programs with dedicated, quality people.

Let's hope the cuts stop here before it's too late.