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Parents ask Hazleton Area SD board to reconsider denied co-op for girls field hockey; board to respond in writing
Summary
A Sugarloaf resident urged the Hazleton Area School District board to approve a cooperative agreement that would let students join a girls field-hockey program, saying low participation (13 players) risks the sport's continuity. The board said it will review the request in executive session and provide a written reply.
Joseph (Joe) Sirock, a Sugarloaf resident, told the Hazleton Area School District board that a denied cooperative agreement is depriving local students of the opportunity to play girls field hockey and risks killing the program.
“We're fighting to get on a team that currently for this year's season has only 13 kids,” Sirock said, urging the board to permit a year-to-year, sport-by-sport co-op that he said would impose no additional cost on the district because parents would cover transportation and insurance.
Sirock said he and other parents had pursued the request for about 10 months, contacted the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) and attorneys, and tailored the proposal to address recruitment and fairness concerns. He said the district’s current participation numbers and demographics make it difficult to sustain some nontraditional sports and that a co-op is a recognized mechanism to help small or under-resourced programs.
Board members asked procedural questions about how a co-op would be approved. A district representative described co-ops as a multi-step process that requires mutual agreement by both schools and subsequent PIAA approval. The transcript records Sirock saying he had been told that one official repeatedly denied such requests at that official’s desk and asking for an objective explanation for the denial.
The board president offered to discuss the matter in executive session and promised a written response: “We will have a discussion in executive session and you will get your response in writing,” the president said. The board did not vote on the co-op during the meeting.
Why it matters: Sirock framed the request as an equity and participation issue — not only for his family but for other families and feeder programs who struggle to field teams. The board’s forthcoming written response and any subsequent formal vote will determine whether the cooperative agreement proceeds to PIAA review.
What happened next: The board agreed to review the request in executive session and provide Sirock with a written response. No formal action was taken at the meeting to approve or deny the co-op.
Provenance: Topic intro appears at SEG 605 where Sirock began his comment; discussion and the president’s executive-session pledge conclude by SEG 893.
