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 add up to about 25-thousand to 30-thousand dollars.
“There is a lot of costs associated with that. It doesn’t provide long term results. If that cost was going into a property we we’re going to operate or build upon it seems like it would be much better spent.”
Thursday’s special school board meeting is at 7 p.m., and Zucal says the only thing on the agenda is the track program.
“My recommendation at this point in time is review the track program, possibly put it on hiatus for one year, and pursue some other options inside the district that we can potentially have to assist our student athletes with a closer proximity.”
Zucal says he appreciates Sandy Valley’s offer to host Conotton Valley track practice for free. However, he’s not sure it’s in the students’ best interest to stay after school four hours every day to drive to-and-from Sandy Valley for an hour to an hour-and-a-half of practice.
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