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Senior brings petition asking district to restore second athletic trainer at Forest Hills Northern
Summary
A Forest Hills North senior told the board more than 1,000 people signed a petition urging the district to keep two certified athletic trainers at Northern after recent staff reductions; he said one trainer cannot cover concurrent games and practices and urged reinstatement of a named trainer.
Eli McCauley, a senior and student-athlete at Forest Hills North, told the board he submitted a petition signed by more than 1,000 people urging the district to restore two certified athletic trainers at Northern.
McCauley said the school recently dropped from two trainers to one and that the remaining trainer is overloaded during simultaneous games and practices. "When even routine needs like getting water and football practices become difficult, it shows how thin our support is," he said. He cited National Athletic Trainers' Association guidance that recommends roughly one athletic trainer per 300 student athletes and said Northern last year had about 645 active athletes.
McCauley asked the board to reinstate Mary Pennington as a second athletic trainer, saying female athletes in particular had lost trusted access to a trainer with experience handling personal and sensitive health concerns. He told the board that coaches, while trained in CPR and AED use, are not medical professionals equipped to manage concussion protocols, heat illness or orthopedic injuries.
The board thanked the speaker and noted administrators will follow up with those who requested outreach; the transcript does not record an immediate board response to the specific personnel request.
