Enrollment to start the 2022-23 school year at Waterville Central School hit a new low with 711 students.
WCS Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Spring said that enrollment is the lowest ever for the District. Memorial Park School has 396 students and the Junior-Senior High has 315.
Last week’s WCS Board of Education meeting opened with introductions of a number of new people in the district, including several teachers from both buildings who attended the start of the meeting. It was also the first meeting for principals Jenny Dainotto and Lindsay Owens, and Katie Hansen, director of special programs and services.
Spring also gave an update on the first week of sports, congratulating the girls and boys varsity soccer teams for both winning the Brothertown Optimist Tournament.
She said the varsity football game scheduled for last Friday at Herkimer was canceled since the Indians did not have enough healthy players. Also canceled is Saturday’s game at Waterville vs. Jamesville-Dewitt.
“We are watching the numbers day by day,’’ Spring said, “game by game to see if we have enough healthy to play.’’
Waterville’s roster dropped close to the required minimum in the opening week due to injuries in the first game and two players who were unable to play because of disciplinary reasons unrelated to football.
Later in the meeting, seeing about a dozen people in the audience, Board President Tim Jones moved up the opportunity for public comment. Everyone who spoke addressed the football situation.
Matt Patterson, who has two sons on the team, urged administrators and the Board of Education not to rush into canceling the rest of the season. Patterson said sports provide a big social and emotional support for kids and the team worked hard all summer to have a season.
Dave Hutchings, also with two sons on the varsity team, was the first to ask if WCS could drop down this season to 8-man football. “We are in a rebuilding phase,’’ he said. “We could compete very…
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