Being switched to a new High School in '09... A HUGE SPORTS ?

[FINFAN]

Hi, our district has just passed a referendum to build a third HS and we are victims of circumstance. The school will open in '09 enrolling just a Freshman and Sophomore class. Then in 2010 have Junior, Soph. Fresh...and in 2011 have all 4 grades. I am trying to understand this from an athletic perspective. From what I understand, since there will not be any Seniors until 2011, the school is ineligible to compete, scholarships etc. Once a Varsity team is intact, then they can do so.
So my concern is that DS HS years are a bust as far as his Cross Country/ Track and Field athletics go. Students cannot be eligible for school records/standings/ scouting...he will be unbelievable crushed if his athletic opportunities have just been stolen from him.
I have tried several times to our district to have this answered but no one is returning my calls/e-mails.
I can't believe we have been pawned off like this...my son is crushed that he will not be attending the same HS that his sister is...the teachers are awesome over there...I forsee many "for sale" signs going up. Oh, and the icing on the cake is how mucher higher my double digit taxes are going to go up for the cost of building this new school.


Pam

 

[DisneyGirl2005]

I am not sure if it is the same everywhere, but here if a student is participating in a sport that is not offered at the school they are redistricted to they can remain at the school where their sport is offered. The only catch is you will have to provide transportation to and from school.

Good Luck!

 

[pozey]

I am not sure if it is the same everywhere, but here if a student is participating in a sport that is not offered at the school they are redistricted to they can remain at the school where their sport is offered. The only catch is you will have to provide transportation to and from school.

Good Luck!

This is true in the school district in which we reside.

Also.....I would tend to think that even though there will be no juniors or seniors, why would they not have sports? Where I live, freshmen and sophomores can play varsity too.

 

[brerrabbit]

Where I live when they open a new high school with sophmores and freshman, they compete in all sports just at the junior varsity level. At some point maybe with Juniors maybe they wait for seniors they will compete at the Varsity level. Generally its the team sports that wait however more individual type sports like track, golf, etc can start competing at the varsity level right away if their times/scores are worthy of varsity level competition.

 

[KelNottAt]

Sorry to hear this.

I, too, find it extremely odd that only seniors are eligible for varsity. Here anyone can be varsity, as long as he or she is makes the cut.

Do you mean to say that the new school will field varsity teams, but since they'll be comprised of underclassmen and unlikely to win against "real" varsities, scouts won't bother to consider the new school's athletes?

 

[golfgal]

There is a district in our state that just opened a new high school this past fall and all the seniors stayed at the old high school and the fr, so, jr classes were split geographically between the two high schools. Both schools were competing in varsity athletics this year. My guess is that the kids at the new school will be allowed to compete for the old school until they have their own teams and I would also guess that the school will provide transportation if this is the case assuming they don't field their own teams right away with younger kids.

 

[Sandy V.]

Where I live when they open a new high school with sophmores and freshman, they compete in all sports just at the junior varsity level. At some point maybe with Juniors maybe they wait for seniors they will compete at the Varsity level. Generally its the team sports that wait however more individual type sports like track, golf, etc can start competing at the varsity level right away if their times/scores are worthy of varsity level competition.

That's what happens here too.

Colorado also has an athletic policy that if your school doesn't offer a particular sport in either a competitive or club version, you can play for another school in your district. Or, you can go out-of-district to play a sport if your district doesn't have any high schools that play the sport. Ice Hockey is a good example. Our school district doesn't have an ice hockey team (no rink) so the kids play for a number of high schools in a neighboring school district.

Best of luck - I hope your son gets to participate in high school sports!!

 

[FINFAN]

From what I understand, DS CAN participate in whatever beginning teams they will have, but that as far as standings/wins/losses....they do not "count". For example, if there was a football game of the sophomore team playing the sophomore team of the H.S. we used to attend..it would be like an exhibition game...any records, etc set are basically invisible. It is not until it is a 4 years school that sports will begin to count. I am hoping that the info I have rec'd on this is uncorrect...because that is 3 years of students who will be basically competing, but can't be counted. If a child sets a state record for example, it will not be counted or legal..the kid gets robbed.
I am aware that I can petition for DS to join the team of our current HS,( all of his friends will continue on to that school and it's where he wants to be anyway) his Middle school will be split and that is another casualty of this new HS. Horrible solution...the kids suffer greatly in this.... and we are contemplating moving ourselves because we moved here in the first place for the experience and history/ quality of that HS. However, what it will cost us to do so basically eats up any college $$$ we will havefor DS. I sure hope all the big mouths who were yelling and screaming for this to pass, open up again and demand that sports are not compromised for the students. It is just insult ot injury.
Thanks for the replies and letting me vent....guess we're open to moving closer to WDW now, eh? If only...if only.


Pam

 

[trip]

Take a breath - I know this is a hot item for any parent. Been there, done that. In fact, usually it's harder for the parents than the students. We buy our homes in the best school district we can afford for our children to attend and then what happens? Growth -- new schools, redesigned school boundaries, students attending different schools than their older sibblings. Everything will be out of the comfort zone - new buildings and new teachers.

As far as the sports program, it will work out. College scouts have been through this before and know what to look for.

Two years ago, our district opened a new school and offered the teachers a chance to move - about 1/2 did-- so maybe some of your favorite teachers will move.

Positives about attending a brand new school (with only 1/2 of the enrollment for the first 2 years) is he will be able to help establish traditions, be a school leader at a younger age and able to take part in more activitites that maybe he wouldn't be able to if the school was at capacity.

Good luck - it will be ok!!

 

[What the Heck]

I was part of the first class to go 4 years at Buffalo Grove High School. Only 500 other people can say that.

As for the sports, that ruling just doesn't make sense. Our sports counted, although our first year we only had Freshman, Sophmores and Juniors, so we only had JV. But what a football team we did have when we opened up for Varsity. We ended up with all the jocks. Hope it works out for you.

 

[SPAM]

in my district we opened a new high school af ew years back and started with only 9 and 10th grade. however they started them with varsity, but at any "easier district" i dont know exactly how it works but they were not playing in our district. then once they ahd all 4 grades, which they have now, they moved up into playing our district. they had varsity originally but just between you and me i thought that was a bad idea they seemed to not do so well in the beginning since they were only 9th and 10th graders.

 

[tar heel]

Our school opened with freshman, sophomores and juniors. We fielded all sports, but the teams were not very good the first year. Are you sure they can't compete? Here, anyway, track was one of the least affected sport.

There were some bigger problems with athletics at our school. Since we didn't have a long-established booster club, it was harder to fundraise. Since we didn't have alumni, our football game crowds were smaller. Every single team needed new uniforms at the same time. On top of that, a cross country course had not been created, the baseball field didn't have lights and there were no tennis courts.

If it's an expansion school, you'll probably have a significant number of teachers from the old school, though. We have several, including one I had hoped to never lay eyes on again.

I hope everything works out for your son and that he ends up eligible for scholarships. My son was one of the two best in the conference in his track events in middle school. While he's had an okay high school career, it never developed like it appeared it might. I think he probably peaked sophomore year -- he didn't make regionals as a junior and I'm confident he wont' as a senior.

 

[Barb D]

Our district has a new school this year with only 9th and 10th grades -- and their JV football team smeared ours. As far as I know they only have JV sports, but they do count.

BTW, the school is gorgeous, all new, modern, etc. ALMOST makes me wish my kids had been redistricted there.

 

[FINFAN]

Thanks for the replies and kind words....but with all due respect...the glamorous end of the building means little to us...it's the quality of the staff, and experience. As far as sports go, the coaches won't be running anyone over to get to the new school, for the reasons stated above, no money/interest at first, we have been told that the "luxuries" of lights, field, track, stadium will be secondary to the building itself......and the kids get the inexperienced coaches. Our teacher contracts come up for re-negotiation next year. Nice. With no $$ left over for them thanks to this new building...they will be looking elsewhere as well. I have been doing searches, and historically, the teams door poorly for an average of the first 7 years. So much for school pride, spirit. I think the kids have a better HS experience by attending with upper classmen,...DS is getting robbed of a full HS experience, plain and simple. I say let the folks who live in the "new growth" area attend there...let us in the 20 -30 year old established area stay where we chose. I HATE politics and education...sadly, it is NEVER about the kids. Hopefully I will be able to petition to allow DS to attend our current HS based on me providing transportation.



Pam

 

[PlutoPony]

Around us when a new school opens (which is every other year in MS and HS) there's a big ripple effect thru all the other schools. In general if a "good" principal is named, many teachers AND coaches apply to move there. The opportunity to work in a new school with all the bells and whistles (and start an athletic program from the ground up) is very attractive to many. So the school you'd like your son to stay at will most likely look different when the new school opens. Our sports teams can participate right away, but usually start in lower divisions and work their way up as enrollment increases. While the teams may not be super competitive to begin with, kids do like being at those schools for sports because the facilities are so good and they typically get a lot of playing time if they're any good. YMMV...

 

[WDWDad]

Our school district opened a new high school a few years ago and did something similar. Not sure how the sports thing will work out in the end, but this was the first year we had 2 totally separate teams. No problems for anyone in the past.

As teachers are concerned, they are not going to hire a whole new staff for the new school. There will be some (probably lots) of shuffling of teachers from building to building. your new school could end up with some of those great teachers you like and you DD could end up with lots of crappy ones. you never know.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

First of all, don't panic until you have your answers.
Second, I know of a Columbus suburban school (Olentangy) that just opened up 2 or 3 years ago--my old principal left us to open it up. By their second year in operation they were in the state playoffs in football and basketball.
Next, don't expect that all of the staff at the "old" HS will stay there when they have this opportunity. If I could leave my old sweatbox HS with its crappy electrical system and spring mildew smell, I would be the first one in line to teach Language arts at a new building. Unfortunately they are remodeling the building we have.
Also, scouts aren't going to completely ignore new schools. That would be asinine. It will be up to the coaches to keep college scouts informed of their talented prospects, much as it is now. Even if a record won't be the official school record (which makes no sense) it will be in the student's records as his personal best or whatever. And in cross country and track, individual performances count more than team ones anyhow. Besides, there are many schools that are not 4 year schools--they have their 9th graders at the junior high and only have grades 10-11-12.
Last, don't expect there will not be any money left after they build the new building, so the teachers will look elsewhere. School funding is not made like that--at least not in Ohio. School building money and school operation money (i.e. salaries) are two different pools of money. They legally cannot build with operation money, or pay teachers with building and improvement money. Plus, teachers here get paid based on experience and education. Even if your best teachers wanted to leave, if they have more then 5 years experience and/or an advanced degree, no one else will hire them! It is one of the paradoxes of education. The more experienced you are, the more impossible it is to get another job. It costs much less to hire someone fresh out of college than an experienced teacher.
Robin M.