Prince George's County Superintendent Proposes to Cut Middle School Sports

In early December, Prince George's County Schools Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. proposed a fiscal 2012 operating budget that eliminates certain academic programs and freezes pay for all employees. Among the proposed cuts is the elimination of all athletic programs for middle school students, an idea that raised the ire of the county school board. The 10-member panel will convene with Hite this month to discuss his proposal.

The cuts would eliminate the job positions of school staff that coach and run these programs, along with the programs themselves, saving an estimated $800,000. The school board must vote on the budget before sending it to County Executive Rushern L. Baker III for consideration.

The elimination of middle school sports programs would devastate the entire county and prove detrimental to the development of children involved in sports, school board member Edward Burroughs III (Dist. 8) said.
"Middle-schoolers are very impressionable," he said. "They need more supports in place, not less. The coaches who work with the kids in sports programs are more than coaches for many of those kids. Many of our kids don't have someone at home waiting for them after-school who responds to them like the coaches will."

Read the full article by SOYA's Khadijah Ali-Coleman on Patch.com

Here are some comments from parents with children attending schools Prince George's County.

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