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JFK cheerleaders permitted to 'stunt'
After being shelved for about two months, the routine known as "stunting" will make a comeback on the John F. Kennedy High School cheerleading squads.
The Cheektowaga-Sloan Board of Education approved at its meeting Tuesday JFK cheerleading guidelines, a set of updated safety rules regarding routines and actions.
JFK junior varsity cheerleading coach Corrinne Cummings asked the board during the public comment session to reinstall stunting- a routine in which cheerleaders hold team members up in the air, drop them and catch them- for the squad.
Cummings, a 2000 JFK graduate,
• turn to page added that she and other Kennedy cheerleading coaches take every safety precaution possible.
"I have a book on safety with me at all times," Cummings stated. "I always use a mat with anything that is beyond a routine stunt. Safety is number one with the girls."
Cummings, in her second year as J.V. coach, said the board removed stunting from cheerleading routines after a girl was injured during an event in December. She added that her team, as well as opposing squads that cheered during boys basketball games, had expressed displeasure that they were not allowed to "stunt" during contests.
"It gives the girls something to look forward to," Cummings explained. "We always follow ECIC (Erie County Interscholastic Conference) guidelines."
The board established the distinct guidelines to oblige the cheerleaders' request.
"The board's concern is always first for the safety of students," said Superintendent of Schools James P. Mazgajewski.
Standard Parkway resident Mike McMullen, whose daughter is a member of the J.V. cheerleading squad, expressed confidence in Cummings' coaching, as well as stunting itself.
"Girls from other districts are disappointed when they come (to JFK) and can't do stunting," McMullen said. "You can't take dribbling out of basketball, and you can't take stunting out of cheerleading. There's inherent safety problems with all sports, and cheerleading is a sport."
In other public comment, district resident Camille Suszek asked the board to further develop a district comprehensive plan or committee to address underage alcohol consumption and/or substance abuse.
Suszek, who serves as the president of the JFK Parent Teacher Organization, said the request comes in the wake of a late-October incident in which eight JFK High School students were suspended after they showed up under the influence of alcohol at a homecoming dance.
into the policies of neighboring school districts regarding substance abuse prevention. She noted that Lake Shore school officials held a meeting with parents last year before the school's prom, in conjunction with Erie-1 BOCES, about prevention of and the dangers of alcohol consumption. Suszek added that several local organizations exist- including Western New York United Against Drug & Alcohol Abuse on
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Suszek asked the board to look
Harlem Road and Renaissance House of Buffalo (which has material in JFK Middle School)- that would help the school disseminate the material to students.
"We have some (alcohol prevention ideas) in place, including a Code of Ethics for athletes," said Suszek. "But we're not co-ordinated enough and we don't have a committee. We don't need to put it off any longer. We need to re-establish some connections...I have a son, and prom time is coming. We're connected much tighter as a district than other districts."
Mazgajewski replied that the district plans to hold a meeting to discuss with parents safety and prevention of substance abuse, apologizing for the delay to Suszek.
The superintendent added that Cheektowaga-Sloan previously had a working relationship with WNY United, adding the possibility exists for future contact.
"If the effort (in contacting prevention organizations) saves one child, it's worth it," Mazgajewski stated. "Somewhere down the line, we've got to have a right and wrong. We've found that during the last 10 to 15 years, we have made some inroads (for substance abuse prevention) in the middle school. By students' junior or senior year, it's tough (to get students to conform to prevention learning)."
Also at the meeting, School Businesses Administrator Kevin Ziemba submitted the first preliminary budget proposal for the 2008-09 academic year, which includes a 4.57 percent spending increase above this year's budget of $28,970,600. Ziemba stated that the hike is significantly less than in past years, including a 9.69 increase from 2006-07 to 2007-08.
Increases in additional personnel and contractual salary accounts for 3.12 percent of the hike, with computer assisted instruction, BOCES costs and debt services, transportation and general support having minor hikes.
The board also approved the following items Tuesday:
• The Cheektowaga White Eagles Club using the JFK soccer field on Sundays from 6 p.m. to dusk, beginning April 22 and ending August 17.
• JFK Athletics Director Bobbi Meyer's attendance at a conference sponsored by the New York State Athletic Association Administrators, Inc. in Saratoga Springs from March 12-16. The cost is $732.
• District Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Paul Kubiak's attendance at a conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from April 5-9 at a cost of $1,250.
• A letter of resignation due to retirement from Woodrow Wilson Elementary School teacher aid Anne Bielawa.
• Increasing the hours for two Woodrow Wilson food service helpers to 3 1/4 per week.
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