We're trying to change that gloom and doom attitude. John Gingerich
Newbury Township resident Steve Grubbs told Newbury Schools Board of Education the shrinking sports program, not a shortage of academics, is the main reason families are sending their children to other schools.
Grubbs said the school sports program is treated as an afterthought, lacks consistency and doesn’t teach students the basics, during the board meeting last Wednesday afternoon.
“From the top down, (the program) is not run well at all,” Grubbs said. “I feel activities should go hand in hand with academics.
“Sports can be a great partner with education. Kids can learn a lot from sports.”
He asked what the sports program goals are, who sets them and if the coaches are qualified to coach.
Grubbs said he talked to six Newbury families who had open-enrolled their children in other schools and they all said they left because of the sports program.
Board President Marty Sanders, who has been a Newbury wrestling coach for six years, said he felt the same way a few years ago.
“I like this school,” he said, adding he didn’t, however, like the sports program, so he ran for the board of education to make a difference.
“Just participating is not enough,” he said.
He said changes in the program have made a difference.
“We’ve taken steps,” Sanders said. “The kids in football are ready and more energetic.”
About 50 kids are going out for band as well, he said.
Superintendent Richard Wagner said he sent out many letters asking parents why they had open-enrolled out of Newbury.
The three responses returned were: child wanted to play lacrosse, child wanted to play hockey and “You know why we left,” Wagner said.
The school recently left the Chagrin Valley Conference, after many years of playing much larger schools, to join the Northeastern Athletic Conference, so the teams will be competing against teams from similarly-sized schools, he said.
But, until enrollment numbers go back up, Newbury won’t have enough students to fill team positions for some sports, Wagner said.
“Once you get to a certain tipping point, you can’t field teams,” he said.
However, the district has a new wrestling room, press box, field lights and is working to put up new score boards in the gym and new display cases, he said.
As far as the coaching goes, the Ohio Revised Code requires a district first hire certified employees in the district.
If there are none, they can hire certified coaches from another district. Lacking either option, the school can hire certified coaches from the general public, Wagner said.
“We’re working on it,” he said.
Sanders said the township recreation board has reported a drop in participants for summer programs as well, which means the township is just not well-populated with children.
“There’s just no kids,” he said.
Board member John Gingerich said the board is very aware of the problems and is focused on making the school successful using all the resources available, including volunteers.
“We’re trying to change that gloom and doom attitude,” Gingerich said.
The district has been struggling with finances and a shrinking enrollment for several years.
All elementary classes are being relocated to the high school, high school Principal Michelle Mrakovich reported to the board.
When a 26th second-grader registered, a second class of students had to be created and a teacher hired, she said.
There will be seven new staff members at the high school level and one at the elementary school level this year, Mrakovich said.
This year, the schools will be responsible for educating students about diabetes, which includes having forms signed, training teachers and more, Wagner said.
“It seems we get more and more things to do peripheral (to education),” he said. “It never ends.”
Gingerich, in the legislative update, said some legislators are pushing to get rid of Common Core as a teaching system.
Wagner said the number of states that are requiring the Common Core curriculum and testing has shrunk from 20 to 11.
Ohio is still requiring schools meet Common Core standards, which adds a huge expense to the schools, he said.
