According to parent Tom Taylor, there are 99 athletes involved in Cherry Hill High School East’s winter track program, with only one paid coach.
That fact brought him and other parents to the Tuesday, Jan. 29 Board of Education meeting.
“There’s a serious safety concern that we have with the track program,” he said.
With East’s no-cut policy, he said, every student that is interested can join track.
“It’s a fantastic element,” he said, but “we’re missing one critical element.”
While there are two volunteer coaches, they are putting in their own time and cannot be guaranteed in attendance at each game, he said.
“We could be even more successful,” he said, “if we had a little extra money added to get an assistant coach.”
Parent Ricardo Sosa echoed Taylor’s safety concerns, referencing his son on the team.
“He loves his sport,” he said. “He’s very dedicated.”
To parent Danny Clark, track is a family affair. He and his wife were runners and his son, a freshman at East, is following in their footsteps.
Clark said he would like to see the same kind of excellence seen in academics brought into the track program.
“It’s about the kids,” he said.
Board President Kathy Judge said that she has received several emails recently from parents and the school has been looking into the issue.
As of the meeting time, Judge said, a coach was in the process of being added to the girls spring program for this year. In addition, a second coach has been added to the boys program for this spring.
Through administration meetings, there has been an agreement to add one coach to the winter track team for school year 2013–2014 and the two volunteer coaches will be paid for their time at far away games this season.
“We are slowly working this out,” Judge said.
Recognition month
Superintendent Dr. Maureen Reusche gave certificates to the school board members, as well as a tray of cookies, to recognize January as School Board Member Recognition Month.
“Thank you to our district’s ultimate volunteers,” Reusche said. “We sincerely appreciate all that you do for us.”
Student reports
West student representative Chris Blandy spoke of several events that have occurred recently in the school, including the high attendence seen on Hurricane Sandy’s make up day, which was Martin Luther King Day.
There was a craft project to show the unity represented in King’s speeches, a chance to write letters to soldiers stationed oversees and a presentation by Principal George Guy of Knight School on how King’s speeches relate to everyday life.
“It was very nice to be able to listen to the audio from Dr. Martin Luther King’s speeches,” said Blandy.
At East, student representative Rebecca Fisher said, there has been a busy month of activities, plus much excitement for the changes the second semester will bring to schedules.
The annual coffee house was held in January, Fisher said, and honored special guest Charlie Musumeci, who is suffering from adrenal cancer.
“It was a super, super successful night,” she said.
Budget discussions
Cherry Hill Public Schools has provided a listing of talks regarding the school budget. Check http://www.cherryhill.k12.nj.us/budget/index.cfm for the next date.
The public hearing and adoption of the budget will be held at a date still to be announced, according to the website.
