CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Staff writer
The decision to end the athletic and agriculture programs on the Sparkman Campus are final, but the tension over the decision will take time to ease.
Monday’s Harmony Grove School Board meeting was heavily attended by Sparkman teachers, students and parents to hear a discussion regarding sports at the campus.
Sparkman was forced to consolidate with Harmony Grove in 2004. In February of this year, the board decided to get rid of the athletics program on the Sparkman campus after it was forced to because of declining enrollment at their Sparkman campus. Between Sparkman High School and Sparkman Elementary School, the district only has roughly 145 students enrolled in K-12.
Harmony Grove Principal Todd Lewis spoke to the board and the attendees about the accommodations that are going to be made so that Sparkman students can still participate in athletics or agriculture programs at the Harmony Grove campus.
H.G.S.D. Superintendent Walton Pigott said that he isn’t happy about ending the programs at Sparkman and that he knows that the school will lose students because of it. However, he stated that he feels the district is “darned if we do and we darned if we don’t.” Pigott explained that in an average school district, 80 percent of revenue goes towards salaries, but currently, the district is spending more than 100 percent.
Board member Gregory Givens said that if the board doesn’t change its decision regarding the athletics programs at Sparkman, then the reconstruction of the gym floor that occurred last year was a “waste.” Pigott responded by saying that the gym floor had to be redone because it was hazardous and that the gym can be used for more than just athletics - such as physical education classes and other assemblies.
“We’ve been blessed to get 13 years without getting to this point, but we are here,” Pigott said.
Givens made a motion for the board to re-vote on the issue, but no one seconded.
This making the decision to end the athletic programs at Sparkman final.
As the board prepared to move on to the next item on the agenda, an audience member identified only as "Stephanie" stood and pleaded for the board to rethink its decision. She argued that it is unfair that the Sparkman players are being recruited to play at Harmony Grove, and said that the district should encourage the students that are closer to Sparkman to attend school there instead of traveling to H.G. She also said that she has heard that Sparkman is losing 10 kids per year, but the enrollment is up this year.
“Instead of just saying ‘no, no, no, no,’ let’s come up with a plan to fix it,” Stephanie stated emotionally.
H.G. School Board President Joe Rogers Jr. said that he hasn’t recruited anybody, and that no one has been advised to do so in the district. He went on to say that the district has done all it can to keep the athletics program going, but the facts remain that the program in demise.
“The only thing to fix it is the numbers, and you and I both know numbers don’t lie,” Rogers stated. “It’s not the numbers that I made or you made, but we are going in the hole - looks like $200,000 a year from what I gather. We are trying to cut losses to keep the campus open.”
Another attendee stood up to say that she knows of several students who told her that they had been asked to play at H.G.
Rogers responded by saying that the school board was going to continue the meeting and stick to the agenda.
“This is a school board meeting, we have an agenda and we are going to follow it,” said Rogers. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to have an open discussion in the middle of this school board meeting.”
A large group of attendees then stood up and exited the building as another voice from the audience kept repeating: “The truth hurts.”
Other items during the school board meeting included a positive audit report, and news that the district received a grant for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program. The review of student and athletic accident coverage was tabled. A facility request to use the cafeteria for a reunion and the football field for a Fun Day were approved.