APS board reinstates junior varsity sports
By Jeff Gorman
DOWNTOWN AKRON — Citing safety concerns, the Akron Public Schools (APS) Board of Education agreed June 26 to reverse its recent decision to cut junior varsity sports.
The decision will cost $170,000 and came in the wake of $7.3 million in cuts the board made May 15. In that round of cuts, the board eliminated all sports below the high school varsity level; elementary school instrumental music programs; and foreign languages in elementary and middle schools.
Two weeks ago, a group of coaches
requested the school board reconsider its decision.
Superintendent Sylvester
Small gathered a commission, which found that some sports
and the band would be inadequately staffed.
School board members considered
these safety issues, including what would happen if
the head coach had to turn his attention to a seriously
injured player.
“We discovered it would
be easy to bring back JV sports if the assistant positions
were restored,” said commission member and district
Treasurer Jack Pierson.
The board needed to make a decision
this week because football practice starts next week.
As part of a compromise, the football teams
will use a varsity assistant as the JV coach rather
than rehiring an assistant.
“Our original decision would
have created an unsafe and dysfunctional situation,”
said school board member Linda Kersker. “We promised
the varsity players that they could complete their athletic
careers in a meaningful way.”
“If getting rid of the
junior varsity cripples the varsity, that is not part
of our vision,” said school board member James
Hardy.
Soccer, tennis, volleyball, swimming
and marching band will have their assistant positions
restored. The commission
found that other sports are adequately staffed for varsity
and (if applicable) junior varsity teams.
Board President the Rev. Curtis Walker
expressed some reservations about the action, but he ultimately
cited safety concerns as the reason for voting with his
colleagues.
“I’m concerned about
the message we’re sending, when others would have
valid reasons to want us to add [$170,000] to their
programs,” he said.
Also during the meeting, the
board decided on the millage amount — 7.9 —
for the levy that will be before voters in the Nov.
7 General Election. The levy carries
the same millage as the one voters rejected in the May
2 Primary Election. Voters also turned down an operating
levy last November. The board met in a special meeting
June 27 to place the levy on the ballot.
“Our needs have not diminished,”
said Kersker. “I am optimistic that we will pass
the levy in November. It is resource money that we simply
must have.”
School board members said the
levy is necessary to avoid a $10.5 million deficit in
fiscal year 2008. If the levy passes, the district would
be solvent through fiscal year 2009, with a $6 million
deficit to overcome in
fiscal year 2010.
A homeowner with an assessed value
of $100,000 would pay an additional $242 per year if the
levy passes. However, Small pointed out that the average
Akron home is assessed at a value of $85,000.
In other news, 100 Akron students
received new bicycles at the “King for Kids”
Bike-a-thon June 24. The James Family Foundation sponsored
the event and gave away a total of 300 bikes. [See
related photo feature on Page
1.]
At the end of the meeting, Orrin
VonKoenig spoke about the freshman and middle school
sports programs, which the school board
eliminated. VonKoenig suggested that a pay-to-play system
could revive those programs.
Before the meeting, the Joint Board
of Review approved the contracts for the new Betty Jane
Community Learning Center. The total cost of the new building
is $7.4 million.
The contractors are Summit Construction,
of Akron (site work); Moser Construction, of Rootstown
(foundation); C.T. Taylor, of Hudson (steel, joists);
Golub Mechanical Contractors, of Akron (plumbing); Roth
Brothers, of Youngstown (mechanical/heating and cooling
system); Montecalvo Electric, of Akron (electric, fire
alarm); TeleData Solutions, of Akron (cabling); Stanley
Security Solutions, of Akron (data hardware and video);
ClarkTel Communications (telephone); and Southeast Security
Corp., of Sharon Center (security).
The next Akron school board meeting
is scheduled for July 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Administration
Building, 70 N. Broadway. The joint board will meet
at 4 p.m.
|
