O'Fallon Township High School officials told the board that extracurricular participation is strong and that the district will expand tracking and digital tools to sustain growth.
The participation report matters because extracurricular involvement correlates with attendance and academic outcomes, district leaders said.
Athletics director Corey Patton reported 848 student athletes occupying 1,085 roster spots in the previous school year. By sport-count: 667 students played one sport, 173 played two sports and eight students played three (one student played four). The district recorded 390 scholar-athletes (students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher). On the activities side, staff reported 1,008 students signed up for at least one club: 614 in one activity, 207 in two, 103 in three, 44 in four and 40 in five or more. Removing duplicates (counting by student ID), athletics and activities combined totaled 1,856 students, which the presenter said is roughly 73% of an enrollment figure the district used (about 2,545 students).
The board heard GPA breakdowns the district linked to participation: students in at least one sport had an average GPA of 3.24; those in two sports averaged about 3.45 and students in three sports averaged about 3.58. Students who did not participate in a sport or activity averaged a 2.561 GPA, district data showed. Presenters cautioned correlation does not prove causation but said involvement supports attendance and belonging.
Patton also described leadership and training programs (summer leadership camp and Character Plus training), team accomplishments (conference championships, regional championships and several final-four/state finishes) and nearly 1,000 youth participants in summer camps this year.
On payments and logistics, the district described a new partnership with a company called Omela to accept payments for club dues, fundraisers, parking passes and concessions. Omela will add card readers and accept QR-code and card payments; presenters said Omela's model charges an industry-standard card fee to users and does not charge the district. The presenter said the fee is less than 3% and speculated it might be about 2.5% but added they were not 100% certain of the exact percentage. The district said users who cannot pay online may pay cash at the district office and receive an authorization code to complete a $0 transaction online to register purchases.
Staff proposed next steps including better tracking of active participation throughout the year (to ensure initial sign-ups translate into ongoing involvement), promotional videos for clubs, more social media for teams, continued youth camps, and facility improvements to support athletics.