Hansum Stranger
03-22-2007, 12:28 AM
Whitesboro, PP moving west
In order to make room for two new high schools, two Texomaland schools are being forced to move to a different district — and neither are happy about it.
If the University Interscholastic League has its way, Whitesboro and Pilot Point will be traveling west this fall in all activities except football. The UIL wants to move both schools out of District 9-3A, where they were placed in the 2006 biennial realignment, and into District 8-3A. Pending appeal, the move will take effect in August and will remain until the next realignment in 2008.
Both schools say they’d rather fight than switch.
“We’re in the process of seeing what the proper procedure is for an appeal,” said Whitesboro athletic director Eddie Gill. “If form holds true, we’ll have to have 100-percent approval from both districts. The odds aren’t very high, but we have to go through the process for our kids’ sake.”
The reason for the rare odd-year shift is the addition of newcomers Allen Lovejoy and Frisco Liberty to 9-3A.
Both schools, which opened last fall with freshmen only, will begin varsity competition in all sports except football. This would create a 10-team district along with Bonham, Celina, Princeton, Prosper, Van Alstyne and Frisco Wakeland.
On the other hand, District 8-3A at present consists of only six members — Argyle, Bowie, Bridgeport, Decatur, Gainesville and Sanger. Moving Whitesboro and Pilot Point to 8-3A would equalize the districts’ memberships.
“The new schools (Lovejoy and Liberty) are geographically right in the middle of the district,” said UIL athletic coordinator Mark Cousins. “Rather than having a 10-team district and leaving a six-team district, we felt it was better for everybody to take the two westernmost schools and make two eight-team districts.”
Thus, while Whitesboro and Pilot Point will still compete in 9-3A in football, they will be competing in 8-3A in everything else.
“It causes a tremendous problem for us in volleyball,” Gill said. “We have so many kids that cross over between volleyball, band and cheerleading. We might be playing football in Bonham and playing volleyball in Bridgeport; we’ve got nine cheerleaders on our volleyball team.
“We’ve gone to great lengths to try not to make our kids choose,” Gill added. “We have a little over 500 kids in our school, and a lot of them are involved in multiple sports and activities. If we had 1,500 kids, it’s not a problem.”
The move shifts both schools out of Region II, which encompasses the Metroplex and Northeast Texas, and into Region I, which covers West Texas.
Both schools competed in Region I during the 2004-06 alignment, which meant all-day bus rides to Lubbock and Odessa for regional competitions. Region II’s activities, on the other hand, are usually held at nearby Texas A&M-Commerce.
The increased travel is an especially acute sore point for Pilot Point, which has been in a financial crunch since last November.
Last week, the Pilot Point school board trimmed 16 professional jobs off next school year’s payroll, on top of 15 positions that were cut at mid-term. In addition, girls’ basketball coach Deryll Friday resigned last week, saying the district could no longer afford him.
“We are definitely going to appeal (the move to 8-3A),” athletic director Blake Feldt told the Pilot Point Post-Signal. “There’s no doubt in our mind that it’s not in the best interest of our kids. Also it impacts our financial situation with having to pay dues to both districts and the increased travel.”
Cousins said in general, the UIL doesn’t alter districts in the second year of realignment except to cut down on the size of a district.
He also said Liberty had to be paired with Wakeland because UIL policy keeps high schools within the same school district together, and there was no way to plan for the two newcomers in the original realignment.
“We were aware Frisco was opening a new school, but as far as full participation, we were not aware of when that would occur,” Cousins said. “That is a local decision. They could’ve done it this year, or theoretically they could’ve waited until the next realignment. When (the two schools) turned in their varsity acceptance forms in January, that is where we had to start looking at (changing districts).”
Gill wonders if the UIL could have planned better for the addition of Lovejoy and Liberty, each of which had been accounted for in the October 2005 enrollment report.
The placement of his school and Pilot Point in 8-3A from the get-go would have avoided the need for the present reshuffling.
“You never want to question the UIL,” Gill said, “but sometimes you’d like to .... I don’t like being a guinea pig.”
In order to make room for two new high schools, two Texomaland schools are being forced to move to a different district — and neither are happy about it.
If the University Interscholastic League has its way, Whitesboro and Pilot Point will be traveling west this fall in all activities except football. The UIL wants to move both schools out of District 9-3A, where they were placed in the 2006 biennial realignment, and into District 8-3A. Pending appeal, the move will take effect in August and will remain until the next realignment in 2008.
Both schools say they’d rather fight than switch.
“We’re in the process of seeing what the proper procedure is for an appeal,” said Whitesboro athletic director Eddie Gill. “If form holds true, we’ll have to have 100-percent approval from both districts. The odds aren’t very high, but we have to go through the process for our kids’ sake.”
The reason for the rare odd-year shift is the addition of newcomers Allen Lovejoy and Frisco Liberty to 9-3A.
Both schools, which opened last fall with freshmen only, will begin varsity competition in all sports except football. This would create a 10-team district along with Bonham, Celina, Princeton, Prosper, Van Alstyne and Frisco Wakeland.
On the other hand, District 8-3A at present consists of only six members — Argyle, Bowie, Bridgeport, Decatur, Gainesville and Sanger. Moving Whitesboro and Pilot Point to 8-3A would equalize the districts’ memberships.
“The new schools (Lovejoy and Liberty) are geographically right in the middle of the district,” said UIL athletic coordinator Mark Cousins. “Rather than having a 10-team district and leaving a six-team district, we felt it was better for everybody to take the two westernmost schools and make two eight-team districts.”
Thus, while Whitesboro and Pilot Point will still compete in 9-3A in football, they will be competing in 8-3A in everything else.
“It causes a tremendous problem for us in volleyball,” Gill said. “We have so many kids that cross over between volleyball, band and cheerleading. We might be playing football in Bonham and playing volleyball in Bridgeport; we’ve got nine cheerleaders on our volleyball team.
“We’ve gone to great lengths to try not to make our kids choose,” Gill added. “We have a little over 500 kids in our school, and a lot of them are involved in multiple sports and activities. If we had 1,500 kids, it’s not a problem.”
The move shifts both schools out of Region II, which encompasses the Metroplex and Northeast Texas, and into Region I, which covers West Texas.
Both schools competed in Region I during the 2004-06 alignment, which meant all-day bus rides to Lubbock and Odessa for regional competitions. Region II’s activities, on the other hand, are usually held at nearby Texas A&M-Commerce.
The increased travel is an especially acute sore point for Pilot Point, which has been in a financial crunch since last November.
Last week, the Pilot Point school board trimmed 16 professional jobs off next school year’s payroll, on top of 15 positions that were cut at mid-term. In addition, girls’ basketball coach Deryll Friday resigned last week, saying the district could no longer afford him.
“We are definitely going to appeal (the move to 8-3A),” athletic director Blake Feldt told the Pilot Point Post-Signal. “There’s no doubt in our mind that it’s not in the best interest of our kids. Also it impacts our financial situation with having to pay dues to both districts and the increased travel.”
Cousins said in general, the UIL doesn’t alter districts in the second year of realignment except to cut down on the size of a district.
He also said Liberty had to be paired with Wakeland because UIL policy keeps high schools within the same school district together, and there was no way to plan for the two newcomers in the original realignment.
“We were aware Frisco was opening a new school, but as far as full participation, we were not aware of when that would occur,” Cousins said. “That is a local decision. They could’ve done it this year, or theoretically they could’ve waited until the next realignment. When (the two schools) turned in their varsity acceptance forms in January, that is where we had to start looking at (changing districts).”
Gill wonders if the UIL could have planned better for the addition of Lovejoy and Liberty, each of which had been accounted for in the October 2005 enrollment report.
The placement of his school and Pilot Point in 8-3A from the get-go would have avoided the need for the present reshuffling.
“You never want to question the UIL,” Gill said, “but sometimes you’d like to .... I don’t like being a guinea pig.”