The recent controversy with the HCPS spending budget has been resolved at last. There was a six hour Board of Education meeting held Monday the 13, 6:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. There were tears of joy after the unanimous decision to use over $552,000 of the school funds to keep the three pools open next year. And we all know what that means! We get to keep our high school swim teams! But the good news does not stop there, we all remember going to Harford Glen as 5th graders correct? At the meeting it was approved to bring back the over nights. Not only are the students excited but the counselors are beyond filled with joy.
The crowd at the Harford County Board of Education meeting was livid with the recent proposal to cut swimming because of the money it takes to keep the pools up and running. Signs were held up with words of "#saveswim" and "Why don't you cut your job instead...". This would have affected more then 300 students who compete at the high school level. Their solution to balancing the budget, while keeping swimming, was to raise the schools "Pay-to-play" fee from $50 to $100 per student athlete. This does not mean $100 for the school year, this is per sport. This does not only apply to sports, this will apply to the drama department as well. As a result of this the swim teams get to stay for the 2016-2017 school year.
In addition to the continuation of swimming, Harford Glen sleep overs are back! Known as the outdoor education program Harford Glen has been popular for years. The funding for over nights ceased last June as a result of a bed bug infestation. The students were only able to attend Harford Glen for two days instead of five, and for a shorter amount of time each day. They were not able to have the full experience, students were not all able to attend each station and because the time was so rushed much of what they learned may not have stuck with them.
This not only was upsetting for the students and parents but for the high school counselors. At the end of each volunteer session the counselors are asked to fill out an online survey about their time there. At the end there is room to suggest what would make Harford Glen more educational and exciting. Almost every counselor said they needed to bring back the over night program. C. Milton Wright graduate Christian Tabler, upon hearing the news, says "I'm crying tears of joy right now! This means recess and 5 day trips are back!" And he is not the only one who is happy about this. There are many other current and past counselors who are just as excited.
As exciting as this is to keep swimming and bring back over nights there is a downside. For a lot of people pay to play was already hard to keep up with when parents have many students who play a multiple of sports. This may be the end of high school sports for some. As difficult it may be the fact that those 300+ students will not have to lose the sport they love is truly amazing. Sport teams are an athletes second family, some spend more time with them then their biological family. Over all the results of the meeting pleased many people.
