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Carlton parent urges board to reconsider co-ed middle-school wrestling
Summary
At public comment, parent Louis Beau Howard urged the board to stop boys from wrestling girls at the middle-school level, calling the practice "harmful"; the board directed him to raise the issue with school athletic staff rather than discuss it during the meeting.
Louis Beau Howard, who identified himself as a Carlton resident and parent, used the meeting's public-comment period to oppose mixed-gender middle-school wrestling and urged the board to take action.
Howard said the district was encouraging girls to wrestle boys and that his son refused to wrestle a girl. "We're teaching our boys to physically compete with girls," he said, calling the practice "immoral, evil, and harmful for our boys." He argued that boys need "male only spaces" where they can be taught discipline.
The board did not discuss the matter during the meeting. The superintendent (speaker 4) responded after public comment that the board does not answer questions during public-comment time and directed Howard to discuss his concerns with middle-school administrators and the wrestling coach. "You'll want to reach out to Miss Dallas and Mr. Raybong, and Ian's the wrestling coach right from middle school and discuss some options or some of your concerns," the superintendent said.
Board policy and athletic assignments were not changed at the meeting. A staff member offered to follow up with the parent by connecting him to the appropriate coaches and administrators.
Why this matters: The exchange highlights a community concern about how athletics are organized for middle-school students and underscores the board's practice of deferring operational questions to administrators and coaching staff.
