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Board approves adding basketball and wrestling to middle school activities for 2025–26
Summary
The Greater Albany Public SD 8J board voted to add boys and girls basketball and wrestling to the district—s middle school activities for the 2025–26 school year; members described the move as largely symbolic now but subject to budget and planning.
The Greater Albany Public SD 8J board voted to add both basketball and wrestling to the district—s middle school activities program for the 2025–26 school year.
A board member moved to add the sports to the D1 portion of the agenda and later said, —I move that we add both wrestling and basketball to our middle school activities for the school year of 25-26.— The motion was seconded and the board chair called the question; board members voted in favor of the change.
Board members and staff cautioned that adding the sports at the board level is a first step. Assistant Superintendent Bruce Schmidt said the motion is —symbolic in nature— at this stage and that operational details —will need to happen, probably during budget— to secure equipment, transportation and supervision. Andy also told the board he would explore public-private partnership opportunities to offset costs.
The administration told the board the additional activities would be carried in the proposed budget but emphasized that final implementation depends on budget committee decisions and program planning. Andy also noted that contemporary high-school wrestling programs are no longer boys-only activities and that many teams now include significant numbers of girls.
The board—s approval was a simple motion on the agenda; no formal amendment to district policy was recorded at the meeting and board members directed staff to include program costs and logistics in the budget committee deliberations.
