Tulsa School Board supports plan for middle school athletics and fine arts

Tuesday, December 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Monday night, the Tulsa School Board inched a step closer to making major changes. School board members unanimously voted to support T-P-S superintendent David Sawyer's plan to re-instate middle school athletics, and strengthen fine arts at the elementary level.

Monday nightâ€™s vote doesn't approve any funding. It allows the district to begin the planning phases.
Right now, only about a third of the elementary students are involved in comprehensive fine arts programs.
Sawyer wants to give all of the students a chance.

The middle schools haven't sponsored athletics for decades. Volunteers have picked up the slack, especially for football. A volunteer football coach told the board he'll support middle school football if the volunteers are still involved. "And by doing away with this program, you will be doing away with a lot of extremely gifted coaches," said Steve Simmons. "This is not a recommendation to abolish or replace, it is a recommendation to initiate the program which we believe has value and importance for adolescents," Sawyer said.

Sawyer says fine arts and sports programs will lift attendance, school participation and grades and decrease dropout rates. The T-P-S athletic director told the board volunteers are never turned away. She also says Tulsa is the only district in the state which doesn't have middle school sports.