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Intramurals committee to be formed
USD 234 Board of Education members conducted a discussion concerning Fort Scott Middle School athletics with coaches and administrators from that campus and Fort Scott High School Thursday. They also heard more information on current athletic programs.
"We're trying to work together to create the best sports program for the middle school," Board President Janet Braun said.
Much of the conversation dealt with a proposal presented to the board last fall that would eliminate the current intramural athletic program at the middle school and replace it with interscholastic programs like those at the high school. Braun said no definite plan is currently on the table outlining what grades would participate in an interscholastic program or which sports would be involved if a change is made.
"It was a good meeting to get the board information on the subject," Braun said.
While there was no board action or vote taken at the meeting, Braun said the consensus was to form a five-member committee to discuss and research middle school athletics -- including costs and other issues. That committee would then come to the board with a recommendation for the best plan of action.
"They will talk with each other and come back with a recommendation to the board," she said. "They will check on costs and create a plan that's best."
Braun said the board supports the decision to form the committee, which will consist of activities directors at the middle school and high school, one administrator from each school and one board member.
"Each will talk to people at the school to get information and opinions," she said, adding the board hopes to get a report from the group by its February meeting.
The proposal presented to the board in November 2011 would eliminate the current program, which has teams from FSMS competing against each other in a wide variety of sports such as football, basketball, softball and gymnastics, and transition to FSMS competing against teams from other schools.
Coaches and administrators present at the meeting offered their opinions on the issue and answered some questions from board members.
FSMS Assistant Principal D.J. Brown said he supports the school's intramural program, and if an interscholastic program is put in place, the number of students participating in athletics will eventually go down.
"I feel like we'll lose a lot of kids with interscholastics," he said.
FSMS Intramural Director Tom Davis said a possible idea would be to combine sixth and seventh grades into an intramural program and create an eighth grade interscholastic program.
He said this could make sixth and seventh graders want to work harder before they reach the interscholastic level.
Board member Steve Floyd asked if there are any advantages to switching to an interscholastic program.
Ken Klassen, a FSHS teacher and football supervisor, said "intramurals give more opportunities to more kids." He said he has seen this issue become "extremely divisive in the community."
"If we keep or modify intramurals, we need to support it by giving it a five-year time frame," he said.
Klassen said he is also personally in favor of combining the sixth and seventh grades into an intramural program and creating an eighth-grade interscholastic program.
FSHS Head Football Coach Bob Campbell said he is not a proponent of football at a young age. He said high school football coaches could help middle school coaches if an interscholastic football program is implemented.
FSHS Head Basketball Coach Jeff DeLatorre said a possible advantage to an interscholastic program is that it would create "more of a team atmosphere."
"By going interscholastic, they're a team and not practicing to beat each other," he said.
Board member Michelle Hudiburg asked Davis and FSHS Athletic Director Larry Fink what their ideal athletic program would be if the budget was not a concern.
Davis said he supports intramurals as much as possible, "but we currently spend a lot of time getting eighth-graders ready for high school. Interscholastics would give us more time to get eighth-graders ready for high school."
He added another advantage would be more time dedicated to practicing.
Fink said participation numbers for sports at the high school have stayed at the same level or increased every year for the last six years.
"An interscholastic program is only as good as the person running the program," he said.
Fink said he is in favor of intramural programs for younger students and interscholastic programs "as they (students) get toward the ninth-grade level."