Football merger shot down, again

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By Matthew Saari

Although Whitehall Board of Education members claim they’re “not opposed to a merger” of its football program with Granville’s, their actions say something entirely different as they again rejected the concept by a 2-5 vote.

Whitehall school superintendent Patrick Dee brought the matter before the board during its monthly meeting Monday, saying Granville superintendent Tom McGurl had again contacted him about the concept.

“Granville is looking for a partner for next year,” Dee said. “I wanted to throw that out there to the board one last time so that I can respond to them definitively.”

Board member Richard LaChapelle led the pro-merger camp, moving to approve it, voicing concerns over expenditures to bus the football players to other districts anyway because of the upcoming capital improvement project which will take the football field out of commission next season as well as program competitiveness.

Dee didn’t have exact transportation cost estimates at hand but confirmed the field rehab will be a “year-long process.”

“I think it’s a good deal,” LaChapelle said. “I think that’s a good move; keep the kids playing on both ends.”

The other board members had plenty of questions for administrators.

 

This is only a preview of the story published in the Whitehall Times. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.