(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

For the second consecutive meeting, the focus of the New Brighton School Board was detailing and discussing the possibility of a “competitive spirit” team for the school, and what it would take for that to become a reality…if it can even become one.

This time, though; NBASD Superintendent Dr. Joseph Guarino was who captained the contents of the subject at hand. In the three weeks following the prior meeting, the school board, along with Athletic Director Joe Greco, met with the parents who provided information and input regarding the formation of a competitive spirit team. What was gathered was then presented by Dr. Guarino in a slideshow at Monday night’s meeting.

While the majority of the presentation was heavily facts-based, there were moments where Guarino showcased what he considered to be challenges with putting a competitive team together. The challenges expressed echoed the initial concerns of the board at the January 23 meeting, focusing heavily on numbers–particularly, financial numbers and participation numbers.

“I do believe there is a concern with long-term viability,” Guarino expressed. “91% of those schools from our area [with competitive spirit teams] are larger in student body size than we are. Quite frankly, like anything else we have in the district, they just have more kids to pull from every year than we do. That’s no different than talking about the basketball team or the football team; but when you’re talking about starting something new, it’s something to consider.”

Dr. Guarino also stated that the estimated cost of operations for a competitive spirit team falls roughly around the $2,000-$2,500 range, not including stipends for coaches, choreography fees, and any additional fees for PIAA competition. “I just don’t think it’s wise to start a program and try and function a program under the guise of a booster group paying for it,” he stated. “The funds may exist one year for that booster group but not in another year. You may have one set of parents in one year that’s really gung-ho and out there fundraising, and two years later or five years later…not have any of that.”

School board president John Ludwig stated that a vote on the operation of a competitive spirit team will be added to the voting meeting for February 27.

Following the presentation, the regularly scheduled committee meeting commenced, beginning with a concerned plea from NBGBB (New Brighton Girls’ Bantam Basketball) representative Shelly King. King’s concern was with the school’s affiliation–or lack thereof–with the operations of the NBGBB following an incident with several coaches getting hit by another coach during a practice at the gym that the group used for practices on school grounds. King pleaded that the school board look to rectify its affiliation with the Bantam Leagues so that future incidents like these could be dealt with in a swift and concise manner. Ludwig apologized on behalf of the board regarding the confusion and said that there are plans to correct the current affiliations.

The board then set up additional items to be voted on at the February 27 meeting, including an approval of the 2023-24 School Calendar, the operation of a K-12 summer school, the retirement of one Instructional Assistant for June 2023 (Mary Kubis) and the hiring of another for February 2023 (Brittany Caldwell). These, along with others (including the competitive spirit vote), will be voted on at the next voting meeting.

The February 27 voting meeting is scheduled for 7:30 PM at the “Little Theatre” inside the New Brighton Area High School.