Family Support: School plan could drain Sun Valley booster club

April 06, 2008

Some parents and faculty members are worried that a reassignment proposal will cost Sun Valley middle and high schools a large number of active parents, especially in the athletics booster club.

If the school board approves a proposed reassignment plan this month, some 503 students from 31 subdivisions in the Antioch Elementary attendance area would be sent to Weddington middle and high schools.

The Sun Valley Booster Club, which organizes volunteers and raises money for teams, gets a lot of support from families that may be reassigned, club leaders say. Three of four booster club board members may be transferred.

'Right now you have a big group of people in the Antioch area that do a lot,' said booster club secretary Bonnie Broadwell, whose daughter would go to Weddington High if the plan is approved.

Union County Schools Superintendent Ed Davis offered the plan last month as a way to relieve overcrowding. The campuses were built more than three decades ago for about 1,200 students each. Now they're crammed with more than 1,500. Davis' proposal would allow juniors and seniors to stay.

Redistricting has become a common and contentious issue as fast-growing Union County builds schools to keep pace with newcomers.

What makes the Sun Valley situation unusual is students would be sent from existing schools to other existing schools.

Parents also say that schools in Weddington, where the median home value is $350,000, already have a lot of parent funding and support.

Several subdivisions to be transferred have been in the Sun Valley cluster for years. Parents say they have become actively involved, volunteering and raising money.

The booster club earns money from player fees, fundraising and concession stands staffed with volunteers.

'It doesn't seem logical to take that support from us,' said Sun Valley High Athletic Director Scott Stein. 'It's not like Weddington lacks parental support.'

The booster club board could be gutted by reassignments.

Three of the club's four board members, including president Keith Mayhew, live in reassignment areas. (Mayhew's move isn't part of the Antioch reassignment; his Forest Park neighborhood has been reassigned to Porter Ridge schools.)

One of the three, club treasurer Susan Biegger, has a daughter who will be a Sun Valley High junior next year. She'll get to stay if the school board approves Superintendent Davis' recommendation to let juniors and seniors remain.

Athletic Director Stein said he witnessed a similar situation when he was head football coach at Central Cabarrus High in Concord. After losing booster club leaders and volunteers to a reassignment, it took several years for the school to recover, he said.

Another booster club that could be affected is the Sun Valley band's. While most club leaders would stay since their kids will be juniors and seniors, band enrollment would likely drop as middle school graduates go to Weddington High, said Sun Valley High band director Jeff Reynolds.

That means the club would lose a pool of potential parent supporters.

Also, several reassigned subdivisions are home to higher-income families who can afford to support school programs, Reynolds said.

Before voting, the school board will hold a forum to receive public input at a 6:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday.

The school board is expected to vote on the plan at a meeting on April 15.

Want to comment?

The public is invited to comment on Sun Valley reassignment plans at a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday: school board meeting in the Marvin Ridge High School Auditorium, 2825 Crane Road, Waxhaw.

The school board is expected to vote on the plan at its monthly work session April 15 at the UCPS Instructional Support Center, 721 Brewer Drive, Monroe.

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