By Sarah Vogelsong
Caroline High School is diving into a new area of athletics after the School Board approved a contract with the Caroline Family YMCA for the use of its facilities at the board’s Dec. 8 meeting.
The Swim Club will get afloat “as soon as practical,” according to Daryl Chesley, director of curriculum and instruction for secondary education. An interest meeting held earlier this fall indicated interest from slightly over a dozen students.
The contract with the Caroline Family YMCA will allow the Swim Club to use the facility, located on Library Boulevard in Ladysmith Village, free of charge—an arrangement that Chesley described as “phenomenal.”
Students will practice four days a week, Monday through Thursday. Swim Club organizers have also already arranged with other schools in the Virginia High School League for CHS swimmers to participate in three swim meets in January at the King George YMCA and the Spotsylvania YMCA.
Chesley specified that CHS swimmers would participate in these meets on an “exhibition” basis to give students the experience of a meet, but they would not be able to bump any of the other teams out of the competition.
Facility use is generally the largest cost that swim teams face. Thanks to the partnership with the Caroline Family YMCA, the CHS Swim Club’s expenses will be limited to transportation of students to and from the high school and the YMCA, and a stipend for a coach.
Chesley stated that an individual with training in aquatics had been identified as a potential coach for the club but declined to provide a name until arrangements had been finalized.
“(This) is a great partnership with the Caroline Family YMCA,” he said. “We’re happy to be able to provide that opportunity to the kids.”
Approval of the contract by the School Board was unanimous.
In other news from the Dec. 8 meeting, the Board unanimously voted to pass a resolution calling on the Virginia General Assembly “to immediately increase the state’s share of funding for public education.”
The document, drafted by the Virginia School Boards Association and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, notes that state direct aid to public education has dropped from $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2009 to $6.8 billion in FY2015. These reductions, it states, have led to cuts in support personnel and employee benefits.
At the same time, the document states, localities have faced increasing pressure as a result of depressed real estate values that have “little prospect for even average growth rates in future years without significant local tax rate increases” and elevated levels of at-risk students. Currently, more than one-third of public K–12 students in Virginia are eligible for free lunch.
To qualify for free lunch in 2013–2014 under guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, a family of four must have an annual income of $30,615 or less.
According to a report from the Virginia Department of Education, in 2013–2014, roughly 45 percent of students in Caroline County Public Schools were eligible for free lunch. This number illustrates a significant increase since 2008–2009, when roughly 36 percent of CCPS students were free lunch–eligible.
The VSBA and VASS resolution states that in the face of such challenges, localities have been forced to support “the actual costs of public education.” Currently, it says, localities pay 56 percent of the state versus local share of public education instead of the 45 percent share specified by the state-set Standards of Quality.
The resolution concludes that because “our state’s future prosperity relies on a high-quality education system that prepares students for college and careers, and that without it, Virginia’s economic competitiveness and ability to attract new business will falter,” increased funding from the state to localities is needed.
A number of other School Boards throughout the state have also approved the resolution.
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