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Student representative asks for sports and clubs at Akron Early College; parents raise cheer team mistreatment and discipline concerns
Summary
Akron Early College student board representative Shaila Davis urged the board to allow more sports, establish a DECA adviser and fund more college visits. Separately, parents of a Bookdale Cluster cheerleader told the board the girl was singled out and excluded from games; they asked for district follow-up.
Shaila Davis, the Akron Early College student representative, asked the Akron Board of Education to authorize sports teams, a DECA adviser and funding for broader college visits at her small school.
Davis told the board that Akron Early College offers opportunities to earn college credit but lacks many sports and competitive clubs. She described the school as “intimate” and said students would benefit from an expanded slate of athletics — basketball, volleyball, track and soccer — and a DECA program with a designated adviser so students could compete at city, state and national levels. She also asked for district support and funding for college visits beyond the University of Akron to increase exposure to other institutions.
During the public-comment period, several parents from the Bookdale cluster raised a separate issue: they said a cheerleader with a hearing loss had been singled out by a coach and excluded from sideline lines and games after multiple incidents. Parent Eramis Fletcher recounted that her daughter made the JV team and had been told by the coach that if she knew the cheers she could perform; she said the coach later barred the girl from participating at a game for an alleged uniform violation and that school-level complaints had not produced a resolution.
Fletcher said she and other parents had contacted the principal, the athletic director and central office staff without resolution and asked the board to hold the cheer coach and staff accountable for mistreatment. Board members acknowledged Fletcher’s comment on the record and said the superintendent and appropriate staff had been notified and would follow up through the district’s channels.
The student’s request and the parents’ complaints were separate agenda items: Davis delivered a prepared school report during the student representative segment; Fletcher spoke during the public-comment portion. Board members said staff would follow up on both items through the superintendent’s office and the appropriate administrators.
The board did not act on either request at the meeting but noted both items for follow-up.
