The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to the actions of the Southern School Board on Monday, May 20th.
I find it incredibly galling that the School Board would totally ignore the request of the community and students to review the decision to change Junior High cheerleading. The parents and students worked very hard in the last month gathering signature, talking with the community and generating support for the girls and what happened?
THEY WERE TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD!
I think that the actions of the board were very arrogant and disrespectful by members that are voted into office. They could have at least revisited the previous decision, especially with the show of community support voiced. It was pretty obvious to all concerned that this decision was very unpopular.
Our question to the board was "Why change something that was not broken?". When this topic was brought up last year, the reasoning was that cheerleading affected the girls' grades. When it was argued that most of the cheerleaders were Honor Roll students, the policy was made that the attendance of Junior High cheerleaders at away games was optional. This worked all last year and a couple of the school board members stated that the policy would remain the same, only to be changed at a later date.
This year the reasoning was that cheerleading was too expensive, even though there was a volunteer for the sponsor and the girls did not need or want new uniforms. Another reason was that there were so many girls going out for cheerleading in the 6th grade. This is nothing new. There will always be girls that get "cut" for some reason, regardless of the sport. (Yes, cheerleading is a sport and a scholarship program in most colleges.)
Members of the community are urged to call our school board members: Jon Corzatt, Doug Brooks, Barry Bigger, Mike Bundy, Karen Jack, Melissa Livermore and Monty Waddell and let them know your feelings about their decision. It would be nice if at the next board meeting, some consideration would be given to the community's wishes. It would also be nice if some board members would give their full attention to the speakers and not play with their papers.
Sincerely,
Sue Bride
Stronghurst