Schools talk co-op needs
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
The Southern McLean football co-op appears to be safe, at least for the next three seasons, as participating schools met last week to tackle problems related to practice times and transportation.
Washburn Athletic Director Pete Moe recently spoke to his local school board, urging the members to continue the Roughrider football co-op. Last week, he repeated the message to the representatives of the three Southern McLean schools, stating he felt it was best to continue the program together.
Attendees of the meeting, including superintendents, principals and athletic directors from Washburn, Wilton and Wing seemed to agree that dissolving wasn’t in the best interest of the schools at this time, but that some changes needed to be made.
Washburn Public School superintendent Brad Rinas said it was important to him that practices started sooner, with athletes on the field at 3:45 p.m. instead of 4 or 4:15. He said it wasn’t fair to the Washburn players to wait an extra half an hour for Wing students to arrive, cutting practice time short on Wednesdays, when the team has to be done by 6 p.m. Wing Superintendent David Goetz said he believed he had a solution.
“We’re going to go to individual classrooms at 3 o’clock, where kids can get individual help,” Goetz said of the school’s anticipated schedule for the 2018-19 school year. “Athletes are held to a higher standard, so they shouldn’t need individual help as much and they should be able to get on the bus at three.”
