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MIDVALE — Mothers, fathers, principals, coaches, superintendents and even a mayor, they all filled the boardroom of the Utah High School Activities Association's offices in Midvale to capacity waiting for their chance to comment on the Board of Trustee's proposed 2011-2013 alignment for high school sports and activities.
They thanked the Board of Trustees (BOT) for changing the process, made suggestions about regions and classifications and over and over plead the case of their respective schools.
Six schools are between 5A and 4A and all want to participate in 4A regions — West, Lehi, Cyprus, Murray, Mountain Crest and Sky View.
Three of the four schools on the bubble between 3A and 4A want to stay in 4A (Orem, Springville, Highland) — only Uintah wanted to be in 3A.
Unfortunately, as the BOT approved 24 teams in 5A and 24 teams in 4A and 28 teams in 3A, every school could not have what its community wanted.
Before the comments even began, Craig Seegmiller, the Region 9 representative, suggested the BOT might want to deviate from the numbers they set before they heard from schools.
"Big deal, so there is seven teams in one region and six teams in another region," said Clyde. "If it means we can provide a win-win situation, I think we should consider some other solutions. I don't think there is anything sacred about having exactly even regions."
His comments were met with rousing applause from the crowd, some of who had to stand in the foyer to hear the comments.
After his comments, representative from 18 school communities spoke to the alignment the how it affected their students and families.
"3A kids are every bit as important as 4A kids," said Kasey Wright, who represented schools like Juab, North Sanpete and Delta. "It seems like we've been forgotten a little bit."
He said that there are a number of reasons pitting rural schools against urban schools is a big disadvantage to the rural programs most importantly the number of students and the resources.
"Schools in rural communities are not just where we educated our kids," he said. "They are the lifeblood of our community. It's where we get together. We don't have the entertainment options that you have. We go to the ball game. We know the children out there. We know their parents. We know their grandparents. This affects the kids; it affects the community. That's why we're so passionate about this." While Orem, Highland and Springville officials all pleaded to stay 4A, smaller schools brought to the table a number of issues with some of the region alignments.
"We'd sure love to see a win-win situation, too," said Orem principal Jand Lindhout. "School size has become much more variable than ever before. We understand the emotion that comes with these decisions."
Schools officials from Cyprus, Murray and Hillcrest showed up thank the BOT for revamping the process and considering their schools circumstances. "Two years ago we were placed in 5A," said Murray superintendent Richard Tranter. "We did our best; we struggled through that. We feel that being placed back in 4A is the appropriate place for us."
Hillcrest principal Sue Malone cautioned them about regions with too many or two few teams because it makes playoffs difficult.
Springville principal John Degraffenried and the city's mayor spoke on behalf of Springville, which was placed in 4A over Highland or Orem.
"We'd really like to see us walk out of here tonight with these other bubble schools feeling like we're all in a win-win situation. We all have very unique situations."
Highland also liked the idea of all three schools staying 4A, but also presented a case for swapping the Rams with the Red Devils.
Highland High has between 250 and 300 students who attend the school on a special permit, meaning they live outside the school's boundaries. "It's the lifeblood of Highland," said principal Paul Schulte. Officials believe that moving to 3A would put them at a competitive disadvantage in attracting students because of the extra time out of school for students who participate in activities.
With East, Skyline and Olympus just a few miles from Highland, he said parents would choose to send their children to one of those schools as they play other schools on the Wasatch Front.
Schulte compared some numbers just between Highland and Springville, although he prefaced his presentation with the desire that the BOT might find a way to keep Orem, Springville and Highland in 4A.
BOT member Alema Uluave, region 6's representative on the BOT, said he knows freshman who won't attend Highland if the school is placed in 3A rather than 4A. "The alignment will actually impact school enrollment, and that should never be," he said.
Salt Lake School Superintendent McKell Withers said he made small boundary changes a couple of years ago that should have an impact eventually and the board will probably make more changes. Dean Fowles, principal of Delta High School, said he was concerned that the rules would be bent or broken for the larger schools when none of the smaller, more rural schools even knew that was an option.
Still, he said if they decided to change the realignment rules, the plight of schools like Juab, North Sanpete and Delta should also be considered. "We have been the smallest 3A school for 18 years in a row, and we'd just appreciate you taking that into consideration along with the other things you're going to consider." The final decision about realignment will be made during Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting.
Schools on the bubble
Between 5A and 4A: West, Lehi, Cyprus, Murray, Mountain Crest, Sky View
Between 4A and 3A: Orem, Springville, Highland, Uintah
E-mail:adonaldson@desnews.com
