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Students, parents and teachers urge Tooele School District to sanction lacrosse; board says topic under review and not on tonight’s agenda
Summary
A group of students, parents and a Tooele High teacher urged the board to add lacrosse as a sanctioned sport. The board said the district has discussed lacrosse previously but cannot take action because it was not on the meeting agenda.
Dozens of students, parents and at least one teacher urged the Tooele School District Board of Education to sanction lacrosse as a district sport during the board’s public-comment period.
Josh Warren, a woodworking teacher who said he has spent more than 80 hours organizing a club, told the board he has outfitted 25 players, held practices and started playing games. “We will do all of the work. We just need a yes,” he said.
Several parents and students echoed Warren’s request. Lisa Mower, a parent whose son helped start the club, described players’ efforts to buy or make equipment, fabricate goals in welding class and clean the field. Student speakers including Sean Searle and Kaden Fatto said lacrosse had improved their fitness and school connectedness.
Board members thanked the speakers and emphasized process constraints. The board chair said the district must follow open-meeting laws and that an item not on the published agenda could not be deliberated or decided at the meeting. The chair said staff would follow up with public commenters who left contact information and that lacrosse “has been discussed and talked about” by district staff, but that any formal Board discussion would appear on a future agenda.
Why it matters: Speakers said a sanctioned lacrosse program would create new opportunities for student athletes, reduce costs and logistics by making lacrosse an official sport, and could support student engagement and leadership. The board’s response left open whether the district will add lacrosse to future agendas and the athletic fee schedule.
What the district said it will do: Board members asked commenters to leave contact information and said staff would continue behind-the-scenes work; if formal consideration is required, lacrosse would be placed on a future agenda for public notice and action.
Sources: Public comments by Josh Warren, Lisa Mower, Glenn Mower, Sean Searle, Kaden Fatto, Heather Plum, Emily Liddiard (TEA) and others at the Tooele School District board meeting.
