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Parents ask Forsyth County board to allow Alliance Academy students to play sports at zoned schools
Summary
Multiple parents urged the Forsyth County Board of Education to revise policy so students enrolled in Alliance Academy for Innovation can participate in athletics at their zoned schools, saying the current policy denies extracurricular opportunities to taxpaying families.
Several parents told the Forsyth County Board of Education on Feb. 18 that students enrolled at Alliance Academy for Innovation should be permitted to play athletics at their zoned schools, and they asked the board to revisit the district’s current policy.
Kathy Boyer, who said she is a Forsyth County taxpayer and the parent of an incoming Alliance student, told the board Alliance families pay taxes that support athletics at their zoned schools but are restricted from participation. She said neighboring districts allow innovation-school students to take part in zone-school sports and asked the board to “call for a revote” at the March board meeting to permit Alliance students to play out of their base schools beginning in the 2025–26 school year.
Boyer told the board the current policy leaves Alliance students at a disadvantage compared with homeschooled students and students in Forsyth Virtual Academy, who have broader access to extracurricular activities. She cited studies — without naming specific titles in her remarks — showing high-school athletes tend to have higher academic performance, graduation rates and better mental-health indicators.
Sita Pethel (transcript name), who identified herself as a Forsyth County property owner and parent with children in district schools, said her daughter had struggled with the decision to attend Alliance because it would forfeit the chance to play high‑school softball. Pethel read a response she said she received from the district stating that Alliance students “will sign a document agreeing to give up all GHSA eligibility for athletics” and that the policy reflects the charter arrangement under which Alliance operates. She asked the board to allow Alliance students access to extracurricular athletics and noted Alliance fields an eSports team that competes outside GHSA channels.
Neither the superintendent nor any board member recorded a formal change of policy during public comment. The transcript shows parents asked for a revote and urged the board to consider parity for Alliance students; no board response with a definitive timetable for reconsideration was recorded in the public transcript.
