BOE Members Disagree on Middle Schoolers on Varsity Sports

Even with the heat of summer blistering the Long Island grounds, school sports came up during the regular meeting of the Lindenhurst Board of Education on July 1.

A moratorium on bringing students in the middle school up to the high school level left board members in disagreement.

The moratorium was put in place after the district had issues with the teams bringing the younger students up, including alerting the student to their impending "call up" before telling administration of their intentions.

"We're doing varsity and junior varsity teams a diservice by having this moratorium on using 8th graders in sports," said board member Ed Langone, who was in favor of lifting the ban completely. "I am asking tonight to lift and rewrite it."

Several board members agreed with Langone's postion, many citing the need for Lindenhurst's teams to be competitive on the field. Many districts nearby, including West Islip and Babylon, were referenced as bringing up their younger, talented players.

"I think it needs to be tightened up [bringing students up to the high school level], but to have a good competitive team, you need the cream of the crop," said board member Patricia Ames.

"I do feel by having this policy in place we take away from the ability to have [the teams be] successful in something they could be," said board member Linda Aniello.

Other board members, however, wanted the ban to remain in place, citing safety of the younger students as well as social skills.

"I feel 13 and 18 year olds should not be in the same setting together," said board member Valerie McKenna. "They're not having the same conversations and I have a real problem with it... I have an issue with varsity players getting bumped off the team by an eight grader."

She added: "We need to remain the Board of Education, not the Board of Athletics. I implore the board to leave it the way it is."

Board member Robert Vitiello agreed, noting his two younger daughters currently in the athletics program.

"I've never been a proponent of bringing [younger students] up," he told the board. "I support Ms. McKenna's position."

Board president Donna Hochman said she was trying to find the middle ground in the situation.

"I was in support of Valerie's position," she said. "But I don't want to limit them... if modification to all of that works, I'd be willing to take a look at it."

The board voted 5-2 in favor of asking the superintendent to modify the moratorium in favor of making adjustments to it and bringing a more stringent system of bringing younger students up to the high school level.

A modified version will be presented during the August 7 meeting.