WW-P community fighting to reverse fall cancellation
When Superintendent David Aderhold announced Aug. 6 that the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District was cancelling its fall sports season because of the coronavirus, many within the community felt betrayed.
In recent days, student-athletes from WW-P High School South have been posing in pictures on social media with the hashtag #LetUsPlay.
“They’re really craving to be together, whether it be at school, whether it’s for sports,” said Sandy Wu Johnson, president of the North/ South football program’s booster club. “We’re very, very disappointed to be one of the first school districts to cancel sports, and the way a lot of the kids and the parents see it is, we gave up before we tried.”
At the time, West Windsor was one of only two state districts to cancel the fall season. There hasn’t quite been a domino effect, as according to nj.com, only seven more districts had canceled as of Monday — none in Mercer County. Trenton has opted out of football only.
Most disappointing to parents was the fact that Aderhold essentially made the decision unilaterally. The Board of Education never held a vote on the matter — and didn’t have to — although board members informed parents that they stand behind Aderhold.
But at the crux of the issue, parents feel, is inconsistency when it comes to reopening school this fall.
At the end of June, the district sent out a survey with about 10 questions asking families about their willingness to return to school and participate in extracurricular activities, among other topics. Yet the results for extracurricular activities were never provided, and evidently the only input that mattered pertained to academics. The district created an option for students to either learn virtually or through a hybrid curriculum.
So when Aderhold sent an Aug. 24 follow-up email insisting that the decision is final, parents weren’t willing to give up the fight.
“It’s hard to respect that decision because these student-athletes were never a part of the equation,” said Pam Grund, a mother of four children and two soccer players at South. “When they decided to offer two options for the academic return to school, everyone was happy in our community because we had the option. And all we’re asking for is the same option to return to play.”
Grund helped rally parents together with a Facebook post in frustration, and as support grew, more athletes began voicing their opinions.
One of her sons approached local businesses — mostly restaurants — to ask if he could put signs in their windows with the #LetUsPlay hashtag.
“He was surprised that they all were all so supportive of these athletes, and I said to my son, ‘Why would you be surprised?’” Grund said. “This affects them, too. They’re used to the feeding frenzy that happens after practices and games from the student-athletes, and now it’s not going to happen.”
On Tuesday night, the Board of Education held a Zoom conference that was open to anyone in the district. It focused on protocols for returning to school. Sports were not on the agenda, but people had an opportunity to submit a comment. After 50 minutes of reading comments that disagreed with cancelling sports, the board upheld the decision.
“What Aderhold is doing is basically saying he really needs to think about the school portion of it first, ensuring that we do stay in school, that we don’t go all virtual, that we are allowing the population in town to decide how they want school to look, whether it’s virtual for their children and hybrid for others,” Johnson said.
“We want that to work for everyone, and in order for that to do so, he really needs to put his focus on the academic side right now. Sports, he does not feel, play a safe role in that.”
At this point, community members are pessimistic that there will be a compromise, but they warn that ripple effects are already taking place. Athletes are transferring to other districts for the chance to play, and coaches are accepting other positions to fill salary gaps.
“The kids are devastated and they can’t understand, ‘Why are we the one suburban district not playing in our conference?’” Grund said. “The message to students and student-athletes should be the same: Play by the rules, make good decisions, be responsible, respect one another, and let’s all be a part of a collective effort to keep our community well. It should be the same message. Instead, our student-athletes are being told, ‘You’re not as special, and we don’t trust that you can follow the rules.’”
The community is also worried about long-term effects. Three years ago, West Windsor North faced declining enrollment in football and became engulfed in a political battle with the NJSIAA in order to merge with South into a safer co-op program.
“What it gets down to is, we’re a very, very academic school district which has phenomenal teachers, and we’ve struggled over the last several years with keeping sports up and going here,” said Johnson, who has had two sons play varsity sports in West Windsor. “This certainly does not help, because you don’t know if there’s an end in sight. Will we have a spring season? Will we not? Even if NJSIAA allows for a spring season and the governor allows for it, will Aderhold decide to open it up? We don’t know, so people will look at other options.”
Among the chief arguments for allowing high school athletes to play this fall is the positive impact that sports have on their emotional and social well-being.
Last week, NJSIAA Chief Operating Officer Colleen Maguire wrote an essay titled “The Case for High School Sports,” detailing data that shows sports improve mental health and academic performance.
Since COVID-19’s rate of transmission, positivity rate and hospital admissions have all trended down in New Jersey, sports advocates feel those benefits can be safely obtained again.
“If they didn’t have the coach that they have, they wouldn’t be in a good frame of mind,” Grund said of her sons. “Our head coach at South, Bryan Fisher, is more than a coach. He’s so much more than a coach, and every year he comes up with a spirit shirt. This year what he came up with was so appropriate. It says, ‘Through adversity comes strength.’ And I think that’s really helped the kids.”
Ultimately, West Windsor parents feel the time is now to provide kids with hope and a return to normalcy, especially since outdoor sports have already been played most of the summer without any outbreaks.
“The governor says there’s just no evidence of flareups outdoors, and yet here we are,” said Grund, whose kids have been playing in a travel soccer program. “This weekend, we’re going to be able to dine indoors, gyms are opening, movie theaters. And we can’t play outside? Something doesn’t make sense.”