Heading back to school creates butterflies for most kids. But keeping children safe was the bigger stomach churner at the Aug. 13 Lakeland Central School District Board of Education meeting.
School resource officers are set to return after the program was in danger of disappearing earlier this year amid rising costs. BOE President Michael Daly said the return was something “the board wanted, the public wanted” and added that “all of the School Resource Officers wanted to come back.”
Officials also adopted the 2026-27 District Wide Safety & Emergency Management Plan.
The safety plan outlines how the district prevents, prepares for, responds to, and recovers from emergencies. Officials said there were no changes to the plan, which was reviewed by the district and its Safety Committee.
The public was given the opportunity to comment or ask questions before the plan was adopted, but no one signed up to speak, and no questions were raised by those in attendance.
The board also discussed the newly revised state-mandated Athletic Placement Process for interscholastic athletic programs, which allows some middle school students to participate in high school sports. The board adopted an amendment that suspends the portions of the Athletic Placement policy that are inconsistent with the new regulations from the Board of Regents that just came down from Albany on July 29.. The change voted on will allow the district to be in compliance at the start of the school sports season. The board will put a more permanent policy in place later in the school year.
During the discussion, trustees expressed concerns about the number of seventh and eighth grade students playing on high school teams and whether those students are receiving meaningful playing time. Trustee Adam Kaufman said 192 middle schoolers played up last year, accounting for about 12 percent of the high school team rosters. The district could ask coaches to justify why a middle school student should be given a spot on a high school team and whether that player will receive playing time.
Daly said that they “want the best team possible” but they might need to consider consolidating teams if they can’t secure enough high school students and a few exceptional middle schoolers on a team.
The next Board of Education business meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Lakeland High School.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here