A parochial school in Greene County has decided to not renew their co-op for participation in sports.
St. John’s the Evangelist School in Carrollton notified the Carrollton School District of the decision to not opt for a renewal of the cooperative team agreement citing the desire to incorporate a more faith based program for extra-curricular sports programs.
St. John’s Principal Julie Lake says that the decision will help the school focus on faith in all areas.
“We are up for renewal this year, it has to be renewed every three years, and so this spring ends the current agreement we have. We are choosing not to pursue renewing it for next year, and the biggest reason we are deciding not to do it is because one of our big goals right now is to enhance the Catholic identity of our school, and we want that to encompass all aspects of our school including our athletic department and our extra-curricular. So that was the main reason why we decided to not renew the co-op, so we could work on that within our own school.”
Lake says that the school will keep options open for future cooperation agreements but that this is the direction the school board, athletic committee and administration feel they need to take at this time.
Lake says that the decision does not mean the end of sports participation for St. John’s students.
“Our enrollment is on a up trend right now, we are one of the few Catholic schools in the area I think that is having that happen. We have had quite a significant increase in enrollment over the last five years, so we feel that we will be able to field teams in all of the areas we would like to on our own. But our main emphasis is going to be the faith.”
St. John’s currently has 115 positions filled by students in various sports in the Carrollton School district.
In an email communication read at the Carrollton City Counsel meeting on Monday to announce the decision, Principal Lake thanked the district of all that they have done for their students, and that they pray that they can continue to work together both “now and in future endeavors.”