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Westerville schools propose consolidating middle‑school football and cheer by home high school
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Summary
District staff proposed moving middle‑school football and football cheer to three host sites aligned with students' home high schools (Central→Genoa, North→Walnut Springs, South→Minerva Park) to address consistently low roster numbers, improve coaching continuity and create a 7–12 feeder pathway; transportation, supervision and booster/fundraising arrangements remain outstanding issues.
Westerville City Schools staff on March 16 presented a plan to reorganize middle‑school football and football cheer by students’ home high school, aiming to increase roster sizes and provide a clearer feeder path into high school programs.
Becca Yanni, coordinator of related arts and extracurricular programs, said the model would place students who feed to Central at Genoa, those who feed to North at Walnut Springs and those who feed to South at Minerva Park. “Again, the plan is that anybody that is at home high school of Central, they would play football at Genoa,” Yanni said, adding that the change would apply only to football and football cheer.
Presenters said the proposal grew from three years of enrollment and participation data showing persistently low numbers at several middle schools. A middle‑school athletic director who spoke to the board described safety and competitive concerns when squads fall into the low‑20s or below, saying smaller rosters force students to play both offense and defense and increase fatigue and injury risk.
District staff emphasized the change would be implemented by grade level (seventh with seventh, eighth with eighth) and would continue separate basketball cheer programs (five squads) while creating three larger football‑sideline cheer squads. The Ohio High School Athletic Association told staff teams must play under the school’s name but offered some latitude on what athletes wear, staff said.
Board members asked about transportation and supervision for students who would travel to host schools after practice. Presenters said the district’s transportation department had reviewed shuttle options and that combining programs could create offsetting transportation savings; they also said building staff would provide supervision at host sites and that some supplemental pay savings might offset supervision costs.
Staff said families responded positively in surveys when given advance notice of combinations, and the district plans to notify students, coaches and families of final decisions. No formal board vote was recorded on the proposal at this meeting; staff said they would share a final decision with families once details are finalized.
