AIMEE TABOR Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:00 am
Supporters of the gymnastics and alpine skiing teams urged the Natrona County school board to do the right thing and keep both extra curricular activities.
Parents, coaches and students filled the board's meeting room Monday night to show support for both programs and to tell the board members not to eliminate them. Several supporters said they're pleased the district is doing a review of all the extra curricular programs but reminded the board that the children should be the top priority.
"I think we need to look at the fact that these are lifetime sports," alpine ski coach Tom Ellbogen said. "Our numbers are on the rise. It's obvious to me this isn't a sport on the decline."
Alpine skiing has about 24 students participating this year, which is an increase from last year's number of 16. The gymnastics team has six students, but members said it's because of the threats to the program previously that have kept students away.
Parent Susan Balfour urged the board to analyze the data collected from the review and make the right decision.
The review will be all inclusive and will look at all of the district's extra curricular activities, said Joel Dvorak, associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Dvorak and district athletic director Dean Kelly gave an outline of the process and what it will do.
The five-step process will define the value of the programs to the students, determine the criteria that will define a quality program, evaluate the programs against the criteria, produce a result to the board and determine what course of action will be taken. Dvorak said a report will be given to the board at the April 23 meeting.
"It would be great if all extra curricular activities are viable," Dvorak said, adding that he's a huge supporter of the programs.
Parents can also help with the process by giving their input and helping the district find coaches. Dvorak and Kelly handed out a sheet that outlined the different coaching certifications available to interested people.
Having a voice in the decision is something many of the supporters said they wanted from the start.
When the district's curriculum and instruction committee made the recommendation to cut both programs, gymnastics coach Sharon Farquhar said she had the tough task of breaking the bad news to the girls. Although the committee made that recommendation, it hasn't been acted on yet by the school board and wasn't at Monday's meeting. Farquhar asked that the supporters be included this time on the discussion.
"We want to be part of that conversation because we want this program to continue," she said.
Several school board members said they want to be fair when looking at the issue. Member Steve Degenfelder said the district should look harder for qualified coaches so programs like gymnastics and alpine skiing are treated the same as the other activities.
Board member Donn McCall also urged the district not to just cut programs without looking at them.
"When we go through the recommendation process, we have to look to try to solve the problems," he said. "We're here for the kids, not the adults. I hope we will work to solve the challenges and the problems."
With that, the audience clapped.
Board member Linda Nix said she's pleased that the process will include student and parent input and urged them to bring their comments to the table. If any programs are eliminated, Nix said there needs to be a process for it, instead of just springing it on students and parents.
In another matter, the school board approved the second reading of the proposed calendar the Interest-Based Agreement Process worked on for the past few months. The calendar is a five-year plan that includes block professional development for teachers, a starting time in August and remedial help for students. It also will coincide with Casper College's calendar, making it easier for students to take college courses while in high school.
Contact reporter Aimee Tabor at (307) 266-0593 or aimee.tabor@casperstartribune.net.