Concerned parents, educators and residents listen Monday as Frewsburg Central School District Superintendent Dr. Danielle J. Cook briefs meeting attendees about a possible merger between Frewsburg and Southwestern Central School District’s sporting programs at Frewsburg Central School’s auditorium, located at 26 Institute St. Additional speakers included SWCS Superintendent Maureen Donahue and school officials from both organizations. P-J photo by Christopher Blakeslee

FREWSBURG- The Southwestern Central School Trojans and the Frewsburg Bears may soon play under one banner.

An informative meeting was held Monday at the Frewsburg Central School’s auditorium with a second meeting held Tuesday at Southwestern Central School. The two school districts are both exploring options revolving around a possible merger of their individual sports programs under one unified banner.

Frewsburg Superintendent Dr. Danielle J. Cook explained that both Frewsburg and SWCS are facing a declining student population, making it harder for the schools to field competitive sports teams.

“Across the state, schools are experiencing significant decreases in enrollment, creating challenges with fielding athletic programs,” Cook said.

Cook added that from 2013 to 2014, New York state had about 2.6 million students enrolled in school systems statewide. During this same time frame, Southwestern Schools had 1,421 students and Frewsburg had 810 students. Student enrollment has decreased statewide by 200,000 students, but the local districts are seeing a greater percentage of population loss than the state averages.

“During the same time periods, in 2013 to 2014 Southwestern had a student population of 1,421 and in 2023 to 2024 that number dropped to 1,283 or a 7.7 percent decline. Likewise, here in Frewsburg we had a student population of 810 students and in 2023 to 2024 we had a loss of 97 students, or an 11.9 percent decline in our student population. This problem is happening all over the state, but it’s really hitting hard here in Western New York,” Cook said.

Maureen Donahue, Southwestern superintendent, said the Southwestern senior class had 110 graduates last year, and that she was starting to see class sizes totaling 90 or fewer students now.

Additionally, the following sports programs are being investigated for possible NYS Shared Athletics classification between SWCS and Frewsburg for the 2025-2026 school year:

– Fall: football, cheerleading, soccer (boys), cross country (boys and girls), tennis (girls) and volleyball (girls);

– Winter: wrestling (boys and girls), bowling (girls and boys) and swimming (boys);

– Spring: flag football (girls); tennis (boys) and golf (girls and boys.)

With a shared athletics program, the following sporting events would be upgraded to the following categorical NYS classifications for the two schools.

– Fall Sports: football, Class C; cheerleading, Class C; soccer, Class B; cross country (girls and boys), Class C; tennis (girls) Division II. and volleyball, Class B.

– Winter Sports: wrestling (boys and girls), Division II.; Bowling (girls and boys) Division II and swimming (boys), Class A (no change.)

– Spring Sports: flag football (girls), Class C; tennis (boys), Division II, and golf (girls and boys) Division II.

Cook said that she was a product of a sports program during her scholastic early years, and that children deserve a high-quality, well-run, sports program where they can participate, compete, learn and thrive safely.

After the presentation, Fresburg resident Kim Weaver, a parent of two teenage boys, said that the merger has good and bad points about it, and that she is keeping an open mind about a possible joining of the two sports programs.

“I mean, we can’t deny that we have a declining school population,” she said. “The merger has both good and not so good points about it. There’s still a lot of questions that need to be answered.”

Cook said that she felt the meeting went smoothly, and she was happy about the open dialogue between the two administrations and concerned parents.