The Emporia Gazette

February 13, 2012

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Seventh-grade football and volleyball have made it onto the scoreboard.

The Emporia school board voted 4-2 on Wednesday night to add the two competitive sports to Emporia Middle School at an estimated cost of $7,500. After the first season, other sports might be added.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people in the community about this issue for the last month,” board member Kevin Nelson said. “I didn’t have one person out of probably 200 who had a negative comment about sports. Obviously, we’re concerned about educating the kids, but also the students shouldn’t be denied a chance to compete.”

Emporia Middle School does have intramural sports at the seventh-grade level, but those don’t carry a grade-point average requirement or other restrictions. By putting in competitive sports, supporters hope to keep the student-athletes more accountable for their grades and more involved in the school.

“My big thing is, it keeps the kids off the streets, away from doing drugs or doing alcohol,” board member Homer Garza said. “If it keeps them busy, I’m all for it. If it hadn’t been for sports, I probably would have skipped a lot more than I did.”

Interim board member Carol Schaefer and board president Grant Riles voted against the proposal. Schaefer was concerned because the request hadn’t gone through the normal Program-Based Budgeting process, which includes a review by district employees and community members.

“I’m having a hard time justifying it and I’m in favor of it,” Schaefer said.

Board member Mary Helmer hesitated because of the price tag, which had doubled since the last time the board talked two weeks ago. Adding a full program, with seven different sports, could run to more than $36,000 according to new figures from EMS assistant principal Brian Pekarek.

“I’m not necessarily against it, but I’m trying to figure out how to fund it,” Helmer said.

Pekarek said he did not want to charge a “pay to play” fee. Helmer did vote to support the measure after Nelson proposed adding only two sports to start with.

“I know it’s an expensive deal, but I also think it’s something the kids deserve,” Nelson said.

The cost does not include insurance for the student athletes. The state athletics association policy costs $5.50 per student per year. That could add another $1,300 to the cost, Pekarek estimated.

Superintendent John Heim said that money for the sports would have to be cut from somewhere else in the budget. That would be in addition to cuts already recommended by the PBB group to cover costs elsewhere.

The PBB group had recommended $127,000 in cuts to the building budgets. The board approved $60,000, which will be spread out among all the schools in Emporia.

In other action:

• The board approved “flex time” on Wednesdays for Lowther North and South intermediate schools and Riverside Elementary. All three schools would end classes early on Wednesday at around 2:30 p.m., so that the teachers could collaborate, plan and train. There would be activities available until 4 p.m. for any students that wanted to stay at the school.

• The board approved a “Literacy First” program to help teachers learn to teach reading skills at the middle school and high school level.

• The board heard a report on whether to change the school district’s early retirement system. The current system costs about $550,000 a year and begins paying out when a teacher reaches age 60 or greater and has worked at least 15 years. The new program would have an annual contribution for all employees, who would become vested after 15 years. Depending on how it’s put in place, it could cost up to $945,366 its first year but fall to $288,435 by 2042.

• The board approved the summer school program for Emporia Middle School, which runs from June 4 through June 29 and July 2 through July 27.

• Board members approved a summer program for migrant students and students still learning English. This summer’s program, “Back to the Future,” combines music, art, literature, theater and social studies and includes a weekly field trip as a reward for the students.