Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
A proposal is under consideration in Tekoa and Oakesdale to combine girls and boys basketball with Rosalia.
The change would make for the Tekoa-Oakesdale-Rosalia grouping for all high school and junior high sports. The proposal, made by the Rosalia School District, was the subject of a town meeting in Tekoa last week, and a meeting in Oakesdale this week.
“All that’s on the table at this point is, would the Tekoa-Oakesdale co-op consider this,” said Dan Hutton, Tekoa principal and athletic director.
“If the two communities are in favor of it, we will go ahead, otherwise we won’t.”
“We were looking at our numbers and our largest numbers are in the high school,” said Rosalia Superintendent Bill Thurston. “It looked like it would be difficult each year to put together a varsity and J.V. at the levels we needed.”
A public forum on the proposal took place in Tekoa on Jan. 16. An estimated crowd of 75 people gathered in the multipurpose room at the high school to give feedback to Hutton, along with Oakesdale Superintendent Jake Dingman, Tekoa Superintendent Connie Kliewer, Oakesdale Principal Jason Reed and Athletic Director Ken Lindgren.
Hutton said the comments and questions indicated no trend one way or the other.
Questionnaires were handed out at the beginning of the meeting and collected at the end.
“I think the (written) comments will paint a clearer picture,” Hutton said.
The written comments would not be read until after the Oakesdale meeting Jan. 23. Hutton indicated that a cost analysis of the partnership would be needed.
“But the decision our board members will make will be what’s best for kids,” he said.
The Oakesdale and Tekoa school boards would need to approve of the co-op, followed by negotiation of any details by the three boards.
Overall, Hutton said the meeting in Tekoa was productive.
“We’re really pleased. We had some great questions posed, comments for and against and I think we’ll see the same thing in Oakesdale.”
The content and format were scheduled to be identical for the meeting in Oakesdale.
If the proposal is approved, it would combine all three junior high sports next year, followed by high school the year after.
The three districts have combined football and spring sports in the past. In football, enrollment totals for the three schools have moved the football team into the 2B division which competed in the SE District 9.
If the plan is approved, the basketball and volleyball programs will also be merged and expected to compete at the 2B level.
Thurston presented Rosalia’s proposal to Tekoa and Oakesdale school administrators in December.
It followed input from the Rosalia community at a meeting last June, followed by discussion by their school board.
Thurston said the situation is not ideal, but beneficial.
“There was a lot of discussion, and the preference is that we’d like to be on our own, to just be Rosalia Spartans, but the reality is that the numbers aren’t in our favor.”
Thurston said the costs involved are not really a factor.
“I’ve always found it to be a wash,” he said. “There is increased travel, but you get to split the costs between three districts instead of one.”
He indicated that he hopes they’ll have an answer from the two other districts by the time the spring sports season arrives.
“Right now, it’s our proposal to them, now they have to take a look and see what they would like to do with it,” he said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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