Gina Fenzel, president of the junior-varsity booster club, told the Niagara-Wheatfield Central School District board Tuesday that the JV cheer team needs 30 uniforms but available funding will only cover 20.

Fenzel said the athletic department has allocated $2,000 toward new uniforms and that the booster club’s fundraising and that allocation together would purchase 20 uniforms, but “using [our fundraising] entirely for uniforms would severely limit our ability to support other essential expenses throughout our seasons.” She told the board the 20 uniforms would cost $6,000 and that replacing the remaining uniforms would drain the booster account.

The issue matters because, she said, “as cheerleading is officially now recognized as a sport, our team is required to attend at least 4 competitions a year” to qualify for league and sectional competition, and appearance is part of how teams are judged. Fenzel described uniforms that are torn, stained and mold-damaged after a storage-space roof collapse; she said the last higher-quality purchase was in 2018 or 2019 and that older, lower-budget uniforms are now “completely see-through.”

A district staff member responding during the public-comment exchange said uniforms are budgeted annually in the athletic director’s budget and that there is a replacement cycle across sports. The staff member noted that because the district’s budget for the coming year has already been passed, the athletic director has limited discretionary funds this year and the booster’s request would likely have to be addressed in next year’s budget.

Fenzel said buying only 20 uniforms could limit roster size because there would not be enough matching uniforms for all athletes, and that using the booster’s funds for the full purchase would force cancellation of planned camps and other activities. She asked the board to consider additional funding so the booster club would not have to exhaust its fundraising account.

The board took no formal action on the request during the meeting. District staff said they would follow up with the athletic director and that any additional district support would likely require allocation in a future budget cycle.