Acknowledging that students involved in activities such as sports, music and the arts do better in school, the South Portland School Department has agreed to bring back individual basketball teams at the city’s two middle schools.
In addition, new superintendent Ken Kunin has also agreed to review the possibility of adding soccer back into the mix of offerings at both Mahoney and Memorial middle schools next fall.
The decision, which was approved by the Board of Education last week, followed protests from parents and students who earlier this summer learned that both soccer and basketball were part of a plan to consolidate middle school sports teams in the new fiscal year budget.
In mid-July a group called Parents of SoPo Middle School Athletes spoke at a school board meeting, and the organization’s Facebook page said its goal was “to rally and save separate middle school teams. We are against combining middle school teams (in order) to give more kids the opportunity to play and feel a part of their school.”
In a memo provided to the school board at its Aug. 24 meeting, Kunin said he was recommending that the board add back separate seventh and eighth grade basketball teams, for both sexes, at Mahoney and Memorial, which he said would cost the school department an additional $16,500.
“A review of the athletic budget shows that a combination of unfilled and/or unnecessary assistant coaching positions, together with savings on the officials line, should fund these changes,” Kunin’s memo said.
He added, “We believe anticipated participation numbers support this recommendation and that there is time to implement and schedule games prior to the (start of the) season.”
However, Kunin’s memo also said that the numbers for soccer, as well as the school district’s experience during the past two years, did not support adding that sport back under individual school teams.
But, he also promised to “look at adding games and examine numbers again as we plan for 2016-17.”
In terms of his recommendation to add back individual basketball teams at both middle schools, Kunin said, “Our goal is to maximize participation at the middle school level.”
Following last week’s school board meeting, Kunin also told the Current that he believes “having a rich variety of opportunities for engagement for middle school students is very important.”
He added, “We believe the opportunities we offer our middle and high school students in athletics, music and the arts surpasses or is on par with all of our neighboring districts. We aim to maintain strong programs that will benefit our students and our community.”
For his part, Todd Livingston, the athletic administrator for the South Portland schools, said, “after hearing from the community we have agreed to reinstate basketball at each middle school.”
He said that all of the district’s middle school basketball coaches had indicated a desire to be considered for coaching positions within the consolidation model and while Livingston hasn’t yet reached out to them, he’s hopeful that all eight coaches would be interested in returning.
Livingston said the middle school basketball season starts in early
November and runs through late January, with a 10- to 11-game schedule per team.
And, he agreed that “middle school sports are certainly important for several reasons – they are an integral aspect of the total educational process, offer an opportunity to develop life skills, provide opportunities for fitness and provide an opportunity to compete for their school.”
He added that, “Students engaged in co-curricular activities are proven to be more successful in school and experience fewer behavioral issues.”
Meanwhile, concerned parents are declaring a victory and say they are thankful their voices were heard.
Elizabeth Greely, who started the Parents of SoPo Middle School Athletes group, told the Current, “I am very pleased that basketball will still have separate teams. I just wish there was time enough for soccer, as well.”
While Greely thanked the school board for allowing the middle schools to offer individual basketball teams last week, she did admit, “I am still concerned about soccer, and I asked the board to reconsider soccer again at the Aug. 24 meeting. We’re hoping the board will keep discussing this issue.”
Overall, Greely said, “I feel the board and the new superintendent did listen to us. We feel our opinions were taken into consideration and we’re grateful for the opportunity to address the board in July,”
Meanwhile she said, “We’re hopeful they’ll continue to monitor the numbers of athletes at the two middle schools and plan accordingly moving forward.”
Kimberly Mayone, another parent who spoke out at the school board meeting in July, said the school board made the “right decision and a good decision.”
She noted that the Portland middle schools still have separate sports teams “so it makes sense that we maintain school teams (here), especially since there is so much interest in girls and boys basketball.”
In terms of soccer, Mayone said, “it is too bad that some middle school students will not have the chance to play. (But with) some sports there simply are not enough players to field two teams. So in those cases it makes sense to (create) a combined team.”
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