Carmen Rodgers
Elmore Autauga News
There was considerable discussion at the recent Elmore County School Board meeting regarding the proposed vertical alignment of athletic programs at Wetumpka and Redland middle schools. The initiative aims to strengthen the school system’s feeder program, potentially enhancing both the scope and competitiveness of its athletic offerings.
Currently, discussions are limited to aligning only two athletic programs between the middle schools.
“The only two sports that we are talking about, potentially, are baseball and softball,” said Elmore County Superintendent Richard Dennis.
Under the proposed alignment, each middle school would retain its individual sports teams while also contributing student-athletes to a combined team made up of players from both schools.
Because both middle school teams serve as feeder programs for Wetumpka High School, they would not compete against each other under the proposed alignment. According to Dennis, the vertical alignment of the two middle school teams is a change that some parents in the community have been advocating for.
“I have people in Redland, right now, reaching out to me wanting more competitive-level programs,” Dennis said. “And I’m not saying the current programs aren’t competitive, but when you split a big middle school in half, you lose that competitiveness in some areas.”
According to Dennis, aligning the athletic programs could also increase participation in the feeder system—greater participation, he noted, often leads to greater competitiveness, and vice versa.
“At a middle school level, we want to create participation,” he said. “When you get to high school level, whether you like it or not, it gets down to competition.”
Dennis believes there are several high caliber student athletes in Elmore County that currently participate in “travel ball” sports. Travel ball is a type of youth league in which teams travel to various locations for tournaments and games, and it can incorporate a high-level competition and skill.
“Travel softball is not the only thing,” he said. “Now, you have volleyball, you’ve got baseball. We have Tim Tebow athletes that are homeschooled and that’s what they do. They homeschool and they play sports”
“The playing field, these days, has shifted,” he continued. “You’ve got athletics at all levels of competition.”
Dennis noted that the effort to align programs at the middle school level could potentially extend beyond athletics.
“At Elmore County, we’re trying to set the buffet table—not just in academics, but in other curriculum areas as well, including fine arts, because those are just as important as athletics,” he said.
The Elmore County Board of Education will host another community meeting on Thursday, April 17, at 6 p.m. at the Wetumpka High School Commons. During the meeting, the Elmore County Road Show will be presented. Superintendent Richard Dennis encourages all parents to attend and stay informed.
“I hope I get some Redland people who did show up for the community meeting last week, come next Thursday because you’re going to get to see the show and we’ll talk about it. I have no qualms discussing it. You’ve got people in your communities that are asking for we are trying to provide. We have to figure out how to do it logistically, effectively,” he said.
These plans are only in the discussion phase. School board members began discussion last week and are working to create a less fluid plan.
The Elmore County BOE is also changing its policy manual to expand extracurricular and co-curricular opportunities to students not enrolled in Elmore County School System.
