Two public forum meetings are scheduled for the beginning of next week, for the purpose of sharing information and gathering input from each individual school’s community. The meetings are set for Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Frewsburg Middle/High School Library and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Southwestern auditorium.

Frewsburg Superintendent Danielle Cook and Southwestern Superintendent Maureen Donahue said that the two schools already share a boys swimming team, which has been very successful, along with transportation services and the idea of sharing more came up after looking at some of the schools’ numbers.

“When taking a look at our enrollment, athletic participation, and BEDS numbers, it became clear that it could be mutually beneficial to engage in discussions to ensure that both districts offer opportunities for kids to compete in school sports,” Cook said.

The two meetings will allow the schools to share information that has already been reviewed so far by the school boards, administrators and coaches. At the meetings the two schools will then facilitate the gathering of input from each school community.

Southwestern’s Connor Young is surrounded by three Jamestown defenders: Jaren Cotter (5), Cameron Burgess (7) and Tavion Goodlow (18) during Monday’s CCAA Division I boys soccer game at Strider Field. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“We know that athletics is important in our school communities and want input prior to any decisions being made,” Donahue said. “If our districts decide to move forward with sharing any athletic program, we would bring school staff and athletes together to plan out the season so that both districts have equal voice in the decisions.”

The two superintendents noted that no decisions in regards to sharing sports have been made yet, and that through these meetings they are looking to engage their communities in respectful dialogue to help guide future decisions.

Frewsburg’s Chase Haglund gets away from an Allegany-Limestone defender during the Section VI 8-man football championship game Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park in Salamanca. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey