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Good News About Good Schools

Monday, September 26, 2005

Board to vote on middle school basketball

By Linda Trimble | Education Writer

DELAND — The interscholastic sports program abandoned long ago in Volusia County middle schools would be reborn in a limited fashion under a policy change expected to be approved this week.

Supporters see the plan, which will go before the Volusia County School Board on Tuesday, as a way of strengthening the bond between youngsters and their schools and providing an incentive to keep up with academics so they can play sports.

"I think it´s something vital to the success of our students academically and certainly physically," said Lynn Thompson, Bethune-Cookman College athletic director.

He helped organize a trial interscholastic basketball program last year at Ormond Beach Middle School, where his son is an eighth-grader. Campbell Middle also had a pilot program last year.

"I predict you´ll see an immediate improvement in academic performance and discipline," Thompson said of the proposal to set up a countywide two-year trial of a middle school basketball program for boys and girls beginning this spring.

Volusia eliminated interscholastic sports when it converted from junior highs to middle schools between 1986 and 1990.

Middle schools offered intramurals instead, with their organizers saying it was better for pupils of that age if everyone had a chance to play instead of a small number of athletes. Intramurals were eliminated in 2001 to save money.

Middle school principals and several parents proposed the latest change, said Superintendent Margaret Smith.

The School Board will conduct a public hearing on the policy change at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the School Administrative Complex, 200 N. Clara Ave., before voting on it.

The new policy would allow the superintendent to approve interscholastic extracurricular activities at middle schools. Pupils would have to maintain a C average, to be eligible to play.

Rick Boehm, whose son played basketball at Ormond Beach Middle last year, is excited about seeing the program expanded countywide. "There aren´t any activities for middle school students aimed at them where they can come and watch their peers in a safe environment," Boehm said.

And, while the number of players on a school team are more limited than in an intramural program, Boehm and Smith said there are plenty of opportunities for other students to get involved by attending games or joining a pep club.

The hearing on the middle school sports policy is part of a School Board meeting that will begin at 3 p.m. The board also will meet at 11 a.m. to interview three architectural firms for designing a replacement for the Educational Development Center in Daytona Beach, which houses school district instructional division offices.

Sites already owned by the school district at Bill France Boulevard and Mason Avenue in Daytona Beach and on State Road 44 in DeLand, across from Daytona Beach Community College´s west campus, are being considered for the replacement office building.

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