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Garrison School Athletics Face Hurdles
Philosophy, lack of coaches and team mergers confront the district
by Margaret Sternberg
Although the size of the Garrison school is often seen as an advantage in providing a more nearly individualized education to its students, it appears that when it comes to assembling athletic teams, the size of the school works against it.
That was the gist of what Trustee Jim Cannon reported to the Garrison School Board at its March 7, 2007 meeting. Cannon said that the Athletics Committee is grappling with several issues: the philosophy of the Athletic Program, merging some of the school's athletic programs with other districts and whether, as well as how, that aligns itself, both practically and idealistically, with the same philosophy. In addition, the school is having difficulty in attracting and retaining coaches, which can result in problems with adhering to Title IX (equal opportunity) mandates.
Cannon elaborated that the committee had discussed what they were trying to accomplish in terms of the Mission Statement for the Athletic Program and how to do so while keeping a balance with the school's differentiated instruction concept. Cannon said the committee had also explored how to "improve the children" so that they were able to compete athletically when they got to high school. All children, he said, should have an opportunity to enjoy athletics and learn the concept of teamwork.
Another general area of concern was the issue of children being "cut" from teams and if and how that tied into the program's philosophy. The committee is reviewing what happens when there is a large pool of students for a particular sport. Cannon made it clear that the idea of "cuts" was considered a last resort to solve the problem of a sport that is over-subscribed.
Discussing mergers, Cannon said that they work best when they are "mutually beneficial," pointing to the Girls' Soccer program as an example. However, he noted that in approving mergers in July, as happened last year, to comply with BOCES' deadlines, childrens' expectations are raised that there will be a team available to join. That may not be the case once the new school year starts and actual numbers are garnered. Cannon said that is also an issue the committee must tackle.
The disparity between the number of sports offered to boys versus girls also is a concern, Cannon noted, listing some of many offerings for boys and saying that with reference to girls' sports, the school needs to "expand our horizon, trying to be more creative about how we approach that." One thought, he said, was introducing an activity, such as tennis, that would enable the girls to take a "skill set" into later life. Cannon said that the "session rules are pretty hidebound, and our situation is a little unique in that they don't know quite how to fit our potential issues into that. There are deadlines and stuff they want to hold to, and that doesn't always benefit us," adding that was another issue to be addressed.
Although the Board spent the greater part of the meeting delving into greater depth about some of the issues, no immediate solutions became clear.
In other business, Superintendent Gloria Colucci reported that the Technology Committee had reviewed the infrastructure of the school's technology and had decided to implement a few updates for which the school had received some proposals from BOCES. Colucci said report cards had also been discussed, with the Middle School teachers saying they liked the current report cards, but the Elementary School teachers saying they wished to go to a different form of report card, which is now under a review.
Colucci said the district is considering installing more than just the two pilot "Smart" boards slated for later this year. Although not definite, the purchase of additional "Smart" boards is being evaluated. The school's Technology Plan 2006-2008 was also reviewed by the committee and was subsequently approved by the Board for adoption by the school.
In the litigation with St. Basil, at a February 26 hearing Judge Andrew P. O'Rourke granted a request allowing the Garrison school's recently appointed lead attorney, Sal Ferlazzo, time to familiarize himself with the issues. The parties' next court appearance is scheduled for April 30.
A $35,000 transfer was approved for additional legal expenses "to cover, hopefully, through the rest of the year..." The school, according to Superintendent Colucci, had allocated about $101,200 for legal expenses for 2006-7 and has already spent over $90,000.
The Board also discussed the annual vote on the BOCES budget. Acting upon Trustee Cannon's request from last year that more information be made available to the Garrison Board before the vote, Superintendent Colucci said that administrators from BOCES had offered to meet with the Board to discuss how BOCES arrives at its budget and any other questions the board might have. After some discussion regarding scheduling conflicts, the Garrison Board instead opted to submit a list of questions to BOCES.
The next meeting of the Garrison Board of Education will be Wednesday, March 21, at 7pm during which the school district's proposed 2007-8 budget will be presented in a line by line review.
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