Students in special-needs sports league to get varsity letters

Wichita high schools soon will begin awarding varsity athletic letters to sophomores, juniors and seniors in the Tri-County Sports League, a league for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, officials said.

League chairman Bryan Wilson said the Tri-County board plans to meet Thursday to finalize its proposal for eligibility and lettering guidelines for members. Before the end of the current school year, he said, “our kids will be issued the same varsity letter that their nondisabled peers are issued.”

The issue attracted national attention recently when the mother of an East High student with Down syndrome said her son was told about a year ago that he should not wear a jacket bearing a varsity letter she had purchased. District officials have said no one asked the student to remove the jacket, which he has since worn to school and other events.

Since then, the student’s parents, Jolinda Kelley and Tonda McGrath, have pushed for a districtwide policy that would require schools to award varsity athletic letters to students who participate on special-needs teams.

On Monday, Wilson told Wichita school board members that letters for Tri-County athletes should include some mark identifying them as part of the Tri-County league, “because that is powerful and that is important.”

On Tuesday, Wilson said the additional designation likely would be a pin or some other attachable item bearing a Tri-County Sports League logo. But the letter will be the same one awarded to students in varsity athletic programs at each school, he said.

Kelley refused to comment Wednesday, saying she has not heard from district or league officials about the specifics of the proposal.

Five Wichita high schools – East, North, Northwest, Southeast and West – participate in the Tri-County league, which includes soccer, basketball and cheerleading teams. Levy Special Education Center and the Chisholm Life Skills Center, a school-to-work transition program for young adults, also participate.

Other districts with teams in the league include Maize, Derby and Wellington.

Wilson said the league’s informal nature – its governing board doesn’t held regular meetings or use Robert’s Rules of Order – may have led to confusion and frustration over the letter issue.

At least one high school, Wichita Northwest, awards varsity athletic letters to its Tri-County athletes. Others recognize participants with T-shirts or other items.

At East High, Tri-County athletes are awarded a white letter in the shape of an “E,” which looks different from the school’s regular varsity letter, a blue “W.” North High is in its first year of Tri-County competition and has not awarded letters.

In coming weeks, Wilson said, he plans to formalize guidelines for who can serve on the league’s board, how often it meets and minimum requirements for lettering.

Under its draft proposal, freshmen in the Tri-County league would get a certificate of participation. Those in 10th grade and beyond who suit up for at least 70 percent of games and practices and demonstrate good effort and sportsmanship will get a letter, he said.

“We have never had a sense of urgency to hammer this stuff out and get it together,” he said. “We’re at a point now where we know we can’t be this kind of anonymous thing that’s floating out there that nobody knew about.”

After hearing from Kelley’s family in December, Wilson said he wanted to check with the Wichita school district, the Kansas State High School Activities Association and the Greater Wichita Athletic League to see whether any policies would prevent schools from issuing a varsity athletic letter to students on Tri-County teams.

East High principal Ken Thiessen said he has “fully supported the work that has been underway” to develop league-wide standards and a letter design.

“If the league’s recommendation is that the letter looks just like each school’s varsity athletic letter, I can and will support that as well,” he said.

Wilson said he’s glad more people are learning about the Tri-County Sports League and that its board seriously considered what should be required for its special-needs athletes to letter.

“Most of our kids, they don’t want you to feel sorry for them. They don’t want you to enable them,” he said.

“They want you to help them learn and help them achieve and help them succeed. They don’t want stuff given to them.”

This story was originally published April 1, 2015 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Students in special-needs sports league to get varsity letters."