Carmichaels scraps plans to sell wrestling equipment
CARMICHAELS – The Carmichaels Area School Board scrapped plans to sell the district’s wrestling equipment after an outcry from the local wrestling coach who uses the equipment. “In all honesty, four kids will stay in the wrestling program and the other kids won’t stay in,” wrestling coach Brian Mayfield said. “I would lose about 18 kids.”
Mayfield also told the board that the district cheerleaders use the mats for summer practices.
“Theoretically, it looks like a good idea to sell, but we are probably only going to get a quarter of what they are worth,” Board President J.L. Lechner said. “We are not saving the taxpayers money by selling the mats at less than face value.”
The directors had estimated that the equipment would garner about $13,000 for the district and expected to use the money for upgrades to the district’s weight room.
The board had considered selling the equipment to neighboring Jefferson Area School District, citing little use of the mats annually.
But after Mayfield’s plea, the board instead earmarked an estimated $18,000 windfall from an unexpected reimbursement to refurbish the weight room after deciding not to go ahead and sell the equipment.
The board also conducted the following business:
-Discussed the expansion of the district’s organizational chart by adding an assistant superintendent position. The chart hasn’t been updated since 1990.
-Reported that a new federal mandate will require the school district to track the body mass index of the students as government tries to stop growing obesity rates across the nation. The un-funded mandate was met with skepticism by the board.
“This is about the dumbest thing,” Director Ron Ferek said. “This is ludicrous.”