SCHOOL TASK FORCE WILL PRIORITIZE FOOTBALL
A task force meeting that included school leadership from Freeman Public, Marion and Freeman Academy held Wednesday night, Feb. 2 at Freeman Academy has provided some direction regarding the possibility of a sports cooperative between the three schools.
Emily Andersen, president of the Freeman Public School Board who is part of the task force, told The Courier Thursday morning that all three schools agreed to prioritize working toward a deal done in football — and quickly. That is the most pressing matter because the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) has set a deadline of Feb. 16 to receive a plan for consideration — and presumably approval — by the SDHSA board of directors.
“We have prioritized football because that has the tightest timeline,” Andersen said. “We’ll do football first and then we’ll have further discussions as far as, does (all other sports) make sense and what would it look like for our communities?”
A special meeting of the Freeman School Board will be held at 7 a.m. next Tuesday morning, Feb. 8, to discuss football. A partnership with Marion and Freeman Academy in all other sports is expected to be discussed at the Freeman School Board’s regular meeting Monday, Feb. 14.
Andersen called the discussion among the task force on Wednesday night “robust” and said she felt good about the direction. She also said that Marion and Freeman Academy offered a counter proposal to the one that was put on the table by Freeman Public last month. That is, rather than a 7-2-1 home game split between Freeman Public, Marion and Freeman Academy, that split instead be 4-4-2.
“Which I understand,” she said. “They’re proud of their facilities and want to make sure they do what’s right for their districts, as well.”
Andersen also said there would be further discussion with Marion about the issue of consolidation. Several board members from Marion expressed concern at their January board meeting about consolidation being tied to the sports cooperative agreement.
“All of those things just take more time,” Andersen said of the larger discussion. “We want to make sure that we do this right if we do move in that direction — we want to make sure we get input from community members, as well, and allow time for that.
“So it just make sense right now to prioritize and fast track football given the short timeline.”
The Marion School Board is also meeting in special session to talk about football next week. That meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.
