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Parents and staff press board on cheer roster cuts and facility safety; staffer warns understaffing of applied‑skills classrooms
Summary
Parents, students and staff told the board that a late district directive limiting elementary cheer rosters to 18 forced potential cuts after tryouts and that Carrie Gosch’s bleachers were declared unsafe; an applied‑skills staff member urged restoring PERA substitute replacements, calling understaffing dangerous for vulnerable students.
Several members of the public used the Nov. 26 meeting’s public comment period to press the School City of East Chicago board on two issues: cheerleading roster reductions after tryouts and staff shortages in applied‑skills classrooms.
Rebecca Smith, a parent and coach, said an athletic director’s Nov. 13 email limited elementary cheer rosters to 18 students after schools had already held tryouts and accepted 30 students to teams. "Implementing this limitation at this stage would require us to cut 12 girls," Smith said, describing the emotional and logistical toll on students who had practiced and fundraised. Victoria Aldridge, another parent, said the move caused confusion and…
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