School Board votes to form new panel for improving activities

Talk about it

After meeting 59 times over the course of the last 14 months, the Athletic and Co-Curricular Activity Committee presented its findings to the Jamestown Public School Board at Monday’s School Board meeting.

One item recommended by the report, which the board unanimously approved, was the formation of another committee to be called the Strategic Action Team.

This group would work to implement and refine some of the recommendations the ACAC presented to the School Board.

No one was appointed to this committee yet, but the board is now seeking applicants from community members, coaches, parents, School Board members, and any other district stakeholder. Anyone interested can call the district office at 252-1950.

Rev. Terry Anderson, ACAC member, said he believed the work of the ACAC would now be over.

This new committee could be large or small but he stressed involvement from a wide variety of people.

Two items that repeatedly came up in the discussion included the hiring of a speed, strength and agility professional and the hiring of athletic training/wellness personal.

These were also two of the recommendations the ACAC had for the School Board.

“The road to excellence will not be found by improving — but by change,” Anderson said.

Because the district faces deficit spending for the 2012-2013 school year, Anderson suggested the investigation of partnerships with Jamestown College for a speed, strength and agility professional and the investigation of a partnership with Jamestown Regional Medical Center and others for an athletic trainer.

While the district itself has no strategic plan, Anderson said ACAC recommended a strategic plan for the district’s athletic and co-curricular activities.

A strategic plan was also recommended for the hiring of coaches as teachers. Another plan for professional development of coaches was also discussed.

Anderson also touched on the coordination of youth programs that feed into high school programs, otherwise known as feeder programs.

There were 931 survey responses from current and former students, parents, coaches and administrators that contributed to the report. Questions were asked in six areas: support and influence, athletic development, student development, community and culture, feeder programs and communication.

On the scoring scale of 1-5 the majority of responses averaged out to around 3.5, which showed no strong agreement or disagreement with the current state of athletic and co-curricular programs, Anderson said.

Survey results showed the impression that middle school athletics focused too much on participation and not as much on competition, he said.

Better-coordinated feeder programs, with involvement from head varsity coaches on those programs at younger ages, would lead to a more competitive nature, he said.

Other issues discussed included an enhancement of the atmosphere in the “Blue Jay community,” seasonal and annual assessment and reports and increased accessibility for athletic facilities.

“The board can do little things but it takes a culture change, and it’s going to take all of us in order to do that,” said Greg Allen, School Board president.

The board plans to discuss the creation of the Strategic Action Team and its next meeting at 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 5 in the Thompson Community Room at Jamestown Middle School.

Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455 or by email at brodgers@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, education, athletics