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'Let them play,' say parents of charter-school athletes Tuesday Oct 11, 2016 at 5:46 PM Oct 11, 2016 at 6:29 PM Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune @teresathomas_MT Medford charter school families and supporters showed up at Monday’s School Board meeting to object to revisions to a policy that would prevent their children from playing most sports for Medford’s conventional public schools. Charter parents, students, staff and even a former Rogue River board member appealed to the board during the public comment portion of the meeting. “I know you know the benefits of physical education and sports and the development it has on the character of our children, so I won’t bore you with stats on the influence nor with personal experiences,” said Joel Maiorano, a former professor of health and physical education who is the father of a Valley School student and a Hoover Elementary student. “But I do want to ask, I understand this School Board has the oversight of charter schools in our community, and if that is true, then I ask you to be conscious of all of our students and all of their needs both on the field and in the classroom." Maiorano said his son runs cross-country for Valley School and would like to participate in other sports for Hedrick if the option was available to him. Earlier this year, board members, based on information they had received from district officials, decided to revise their policy on extracurricular activities to clarify the language in the charter agreements, create consistency and to prevent charter school students from displacing traditional public school students on teams. About 12 Logos Public Charter School students participate in a variety of sports at their resident school. And two Valley School students wanted to play football this fall at McLoughlin Middle School but were told they couldn't, so they dropped out of Valley School to enroll in McLoughlin. Under the proposed policy, middle school charter students would not be eligible to participate in sports at Hedrick or McLoughlin, and high school charter students would not be eligible to participate in Oregon School Activities Association-sanctioned sports, including football, soccer, basketball, baseball and cheerleading. (Middle school charter students are not allowed to play under the current policy either, but this rule has not been consistently enforced.) “We want to make room for all the students in our athletic programs, even if they are not a stellar player,” said board member Tricia Prendergast. “If that’s a way for them to feel connected, part of the school and part of the campus, that’s what’s important. “And we don’t want a charter student to bump one of our own students. It may not feel like a formal bump, but when a coach is faced with, ‘We’ve got X-number of slots and X-number of kids,' a student may not be aware that they’ve not been chosen because a charter student was better than they were. Any coach is going to be competitive and want the best players because they want to win.” Sheryl Zimmerer, Logos' elementary principal and the school's liaison, argued that the school’s current charter agreement allows students to participate so long as resources are available. The changes to the policy are forcing students “to choose between the school they love and the sport they enjoy,” she added. Zimmerer also said parents were feeling pressured by the district to withdraw from Logos and enroll in their resident school or register as a home-schooler so their children could play sports. “The sad reality is in the past it has been easier working with other districts to allow our kids to play than our own sponsoring school district,” she told the board. “That should not be the case.” “I stand here to humbly request that you not pass this policy as written, and let the kids play. It is what’s best for kids, and isn’t that why we all went into education?” she asked. Although not personally impacted by the new policy, Colette Henry, a seventh-grader at Valley School, didn’t think the changes were fair to her peers. She cited passages from the district’s website to the board. “Under the charter school tab it reads: ‘In the eyes of the state, charter school students are Medford public school students,’ ” she said. “Under the athletics tab on the website it reads, ‘Students benefit by learning sportsmanship, ethics, integrity, teamwork, competition, and how to win and lose gracefully,’ ” she added. “So are you telling me that charter kids are not allowed access to this healthy balance that is critical to our well-being and success?” she inquired of the board. Former Rogue River board member Julie Niles-Fry recommended that the board put a “transitional agreement” in place and organize a public meeting to discuss and design the policy. “Tonight there is something at stake, and that’s the communication and opportunity to ensure that every student is valued,” she said. Board Chairwoman Karen Starchvick agreed that she would like to see some sort of transitional clause in the policy. “My issue is I want the (charter) kids who have been engaged in sports, either on JV or varsity — or have practiced all summer — to be able to continue to play for the duration of the high school career,” she said. “Basically grandfather in the kids who are already involved.” However, she strongly felt that Logos, given its size, should be fielding teams. The school, she explained, after deducting the 5 percent owed to the district by law, receives about $7,125 per high school student. Cascade Christian High School has roughly the same number of high school students as Logos, charges $7,720 for the first student and $7,260 for each additional family member enrolled, and still manages to offer a variety of sports, including cross-country, football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball and tennis. “If you build it, they will come,” she said, quoting the movie "Field of Dreams." Board member Michael Campbell urged the board to postpone adopting the policy until more discussions have been had and information gathered. Board member Larry Nicholson said he’d like to know how other districts have responded to the issue. “There’s frustration on the charter school side,” Nicholson said. “There’s frustration on our side, so we’ve not been consistent. There’s coaches telling kids to drop out of the charter and do it on their own. All of these things are going on, none of which are good for us or the kids. And I cannot believe that we are the only district dealing with this issue.” In the end, the board voted 4-2 against adopting the new policy, which will be revisited by the Policy Committee before being brought before the board again. Only Thomas and Prendergast voted for the policy. However, Starchvick, who voted last, said she voted “no” to prevent the decision from being tied. — Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt.