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 By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief Assistant Editor
What do you get when you cross a bear with a cardinal? The communities of Callaway and Arnold may be finding the answer to that question soon.
There is no denying that cuts in state aid to schools, and other factors, have hit schools hard - especially smaller schools. That, combined with other factors such as declining enrollment, has forced many of these schools to look at options like a co-op in order to maintain their sports programs.
Last year two school in the area, Sandhills and Thedford, formed a co-op for their sports teams, and now in their second season, the Sandhills/Thedford Knights are a competitive program. The communities and school boards of Arnold and Callaway Public Schools are now in the process of determining if those two schools should be the next to make that move.
Last Thursday night town hall meetings were held in both communities to give parents, students and patrons of the districts an opportunity to discuss and voice their opinions. And many turned out to do just that.
In Callaway, the discussion was led by Julianna Jenkins, and a panel of school board members, administration and faculty was on hand to field questions and present information. Part of that information included enrollment figures for this year and projections for coming years for both schools.
In just the past four years, from the 2005-06 to 2009-10 school years, Callaway’s enrollment has gone down by 20 students. That decline is projected to continue at least for the next several years.
Total enrollment for grades 9-12 at Callaway High School this academic year is 67 students. Next year that is expected to drop to 62 students, and drop even further - to 55 students - by 2011-12.
For Arnold High School the enrollment figures paint an even starker picture. This year there are 42 students in grades 9-12 at AHS, with that number expected to slowly decline over the next five years. By academic year 2014-15, the school is projected to have a 9-12 enrollment of 29 students.
Arnold is currently a six-man football program, and must report their intentions for next season to the state by Nov. 6. That fact, combined with a look at enrollment figures, has prompted the school to act with a sense of urgency in finding another school to co-op their sports programs with.
Members of Callaway’s school board pointed out that issue to the audience at the town hall meeting, noting that Arnold is looking for someone - and if not Callaway it will be someone else.
Many of the school board members and patrons expressed concern that the Callaway school may be in that same position within a few years, and if Arnold is already co-oped with someone else Callaway would be left with few options.
A combined sports program would not be entirely new to the two districts, as this is the third year the two schools have combined their junior high athletics. The schools alternate traveling for practice, and alternate uniforms.
For example, the football and volleyball teams use the Callaway uniforms, wrestling and basketball teams wear the Arnold uniforms and the track team uses the Callaway uniforms. Parents of junior high students present at the meeting stated they were pleased with the arrangement, as are their student athletes.
The major concern raised by those in attendance seemed to be the issue of travel for the students, especially those Callaway students who already travel from the Oconto area for school. The issue was raised that with the kids needing to travel to Arnold for practices, it will result in those students getting home pretty late in the evening.
School board members and coaches agree this is an issue; however, the alternative may eventually be having no sports programs at all or having to travel even further. It was also noted that there would be some increase in cost associated with the co-op, such as expense to run the buses for practices and for new uniforms.
One audience member pointed out that those costs would be offset by saving money on referees and coaches.
The general consensus of the Callaway audience seemed to favor the idea to co-op teams, with several commenting that the objective is to allow the kids to have a quality program.
“Arnold is looking - and they are not going to sit around without a sports program,” stated one audience member.
The Callaway Board of Education will make a final decision on the co-op program at its October board meeting. If the decision is made to co-op, the schools would enter into a two-year agreement, and would remain an eight-man, Class D1 program.
If the schools decide to move forward with the cooperative, issues such as team name, mascot, and practice schedule will be addressed. |
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