Conotton Valley School Board deciding future of track program
BOWERSTON – The Conotton Valley School Board is scheduled to decide on Thursday if the Rockets will have a track and field season this spring.
Superintendent John Zucal says the state asked the district to reconsider offering track and field, golf and wrestling after a performance review showed the costs are higher than average.
The immediate concern is track and field as conditioning for the spring season has already started.
Conotton Valley does not have its own track and field facility, so the team this season could practice at Sandy Valley thanks to that district’s generosity.
However, Zucal says transportation costs would still add up to about $25,000 to $30,000. Zucal says he appreciates Sandy Valley’s offer to host Conotton Valley track practice for free. However, he says going to Sandy Valley every day after school for practice would eat up a lot of the students’ time – approximately four hours a day from 3 to 7 p.m.
“My recommendation at this point in time is to review the track program and possibly put it on hiatus for one year and to pursue some other options inside the district that we can potentially have that assists our student athletes with a closer proximity.”
Thursday’s special school board meeting is at 7 p.m., and Zucal says the only thing on the agenda is the track program.