Save Prince William Middle School Sports

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Author: geneward

Started: February 11, 2009, 9:51:50 pm

Target: The Prince William County, VA School Board

Category: Education

Supporters:

1,019

Goal:

100,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Closed

We believe the proposal to replace interscholastic sports with intramural sports in our middle schools is a bad decision. This petition is asking the PWCS School Board to modify the Superintendents budget to maintain our existing program. SAVE OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS!!

http://savemiddleschoolsports.wardcentral.com

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Added by geneward @ February 12, 2009, 4:41 pm
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I do not believe anyone is advocating sacrificing our children's education to keep the existing sports program. If you look at the budget, you will see that this piece of the proposal is one of the smallest cuts. I have also heard that this an agenda item for Dr. Walts and not really a budget issue. I am disappointed that they are using the budget to scapegoat their policy change. The long term effects of dropping this program will be felt in this county for a long time and they tried to sneak this one in. I appreciate your support in this effort.

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Added by geneward @ February 19, 2009, 8:37 am
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I am leaving this petition open even in light of the announcement yesterday from the Superintendents office. (http://www.pwcs.edu/absolutenewsmanager/templates/?a=1579&z=16) I have asked some important questions and am not getting answers that give me any confidence. Based on the way the Superintendent worded the suggestions they will not be fully funding the existing sports program. They are not adding the $383,000 back in but going with the existing budget proposal and then charging a $50 player participation fee. The Supervisor of Athletics has confirmed that this will not cover the budget shortfall. So they are funding the new intramural program and setting up the interscholastic program to fail financially. You should all keep an eye on this and let Dr. Walts know that this is not what we asked for. I do not want to seem like I am complaining when we got what we wanted, but I have had several conversations behind the scenes and am getting no answers or answers that scare me.

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Added by geneward @ March 19, 2009, 2:14 pm
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Thank You for Your Support!!

I wish to thank all of the people who spoke out or signed the petition. I believe this action had a significant impact in the decision to keep our interscholastic sports programs in place. I would still like to see the new participation fee used to improve / expand the program instead of just off setting the existing costs, but am happy we got this. It is important to remember that this was a policy decision and not really a budget issue as it was presented. We will need to fight this fight again at a later time. In the meantime, go support your school sports programs by attending a game that your child does not participate in and cheer the young athletes. If you would like to see the budget announcement, you can go here:

http://www.pwcs.edu/absolutenewsmanager/templates/?a=1639&z=16

Thanks again,

Gene Ward