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Board agrees to restore girls’ gymnastics as districtwide 7–12 program for coming year
Summary
After public comments and extensive board debate, trustees authorized restoring the girls’ gymnastics program as a single Sachem 7–12 team for the upcoming school year; board members asked athletic staff to pursue program growth and cost details.
The Sachem Central School District Board of Education voted on June 4 to restore girls’ gymnastics for the coming school year as a single, districtwide 7–12 program, following public comments from parents and a lengthy trustee discussion about program value and budget trade-offs.
Parents and community members urged trustees not to eliminate the program, saying gymnastics fosters discipline and confidence. Jennifer Calamia and Candice Vercocos (as identified in public comment) spoke to the emotional and developmental benefits for students and urged the board to explore alternatives to elimination. The board discussed two staff-presented options: a combined partnership with a neighboring program (PatMed) that would have involved some external coaching and transportation, or operating a single Sachem team at one high school. District staff said the in‑house option carried an additional cost estimated in staff discussion as roughly $12,000 compared with the shared arrangement; another line in meeting material referenced a $22,000 figure for the item identified as the eliminated budget line.
Trustees debated competing priorities: several noted the district’s long-term fiscal constraints and the need to find revenue, while others emphasized student impacts and program continuity. Multiple trustees said they opposed outsourcing students to another district and supported restoring the program in-house. After discussion the board agreed to restore the program as a single Sachem 7–12 team for the coming year, with the athletic staff directed to manage logistics, pursue ways to grow participation (including feeder clinics and outreach), and present cost details and implementation steps.
What this means: For the coming year, Sachem students in grades 7–12 will have a single district gymnastics team; parents should expect that practices will be centralized at a designated school and that parents will be responsible for transporting students to daily practices while the district will provide transportation to interscholastic events as with other sports. The district emphasized that the restoration is for the upcoming year and that ongoing funding will be revisited during future budget cycles.
Next steps: Athletic directors and the business office will finalize operating costs, confirm practice locations and transportation logistics, and report back to the board with implementation details.
