Wichita Public Schools Q&A: Reaction from community, what’s next for USD 259 athletics
USD 259’s fall schedule just got a little busier.
On Tuesday night, the Wichita Public Schools Board of Education voted 6-1 to reverse its decision to cancel all fall activities. J Means, athletic director for the school district and Wichita City League (Greater Wichtia Athletic League, GWAL), answered a few questions for The Eagle’s readers about what comes next.
What was your immediate reaction?
“It was exciting, and it was also a relief to know where we were headed now. We have plans in place, and now we get to put them into motion. Excited though that the board was willing to listen and look at some compromises that (USD 259 Superintendent) Dr. (Alicia) Thompson had proposed. I know the coaches and the kids are excited about this. Is it a perfect plan, no, but I think it’s certainly a very workable plan.”
How rewarding is it to see the fight the players, parents, coaches and administrators put up pay off?
“I love athletics, and those that have kids or that participate, we’re all excited when we can have those opportunities. I get it that there are other important things, too, and we want to fight for those also. But it is rewarding that everybody came together and they did it in a really positive manner. There wasn’t really a lot of negative stuff out there, which I appreciate immensely, and I know others do, too.
“I think you can make changes by doing it in a positive manner versus a negative one, and I think that’s what happened. Everybody is frustrated right now. Everybody is on edge. The world isn’t the same as it has been, so to take a deep breath and do it in a positive manner was something that really made the board listen.”
What has your work day looked like since Tuesday’s decision?
“We had schedules worked up, but what a lot of people don’t understand is when the board said we couldn’t have athletics, those sports that have officials, we lost a lot of those officials. Well, now we have to get those games back, and other leagues needed those officials. So we’ve got a schedule in place, but we’ve already had to make some adjustments to make sure we have officials. ...
“We found out today that we’re going to have to play a lot more Thursday night football games than we initially planned just because we can’t find enough crews for Friday. We’ve already had to move a soccer game. We had to move the start date of volleyball because we couldn’t find any volleyball officials on the day we wanted to start.
“The board gave us the direction that there are not spectators. Well, now we’ve got to figure out, ‘What is it that we do need at the games and what don’t we need?’ We’ve been working through all the logistics of certain schools have already been live-streaming games; other schools have not done that. We just want to get as many games at as many schools for people to watch it. Even if it’s not live-streamed, we want to at least get it taped to watch a replay. We’re trying everything we can to get that done.
“Some of that involves equipment. With our kids doing remote schooling, there’s a lot of technology pieces of equipment going out to homes that we may have been able to use. Now we have to scramble a little bit more for some of that.”
What does that tentative football schedule look like?
Week 1:
- Southeast vs. South (1 p.m. Sept. 12 at Wichita Heights)
- West at Northwest (1 p.m. Sept. 12)
North vs. East (7 p.m. Sept. 14 at Wichita Heights)
Week 2:
- West vs. Heights (7 p.m. Sept. 18 at Friends University)
- Southeast at Northwest (7 p.m. Sept. 18)
- North at South (1 p.m. Sept. 19)
Week 3 ... all games at 7 p.m. Sept. 25:
- East at South
- Southeast vs. West (at Wichita Northwest)
- North at Heights
Week 4 ... all games at 7 p.m. Oct. 2:
- West at South
- North at Northwest
- East at Heights
Week 5 ... all games at 7 p.m. Oct. 9:
- Southeast vs. East (at Wichita South)
- Northwest at Heights
- North vs. West (at Wichita Northwest)
Week 6 ... all games at 7 p.m. Oct. 16:
- South at Heights
- North vs. Southeast (at Wichita South)
- East at Northwest
Week 7 ... all games at 7 p.m. Oct. 23:
- South at Northwest
- West vs. East (at Wichita South)
- Southeast at Heights
Week 8
- No. 1 team vs. No. 2 team
- No. 3 vs. No. 4
- No. 5 vs. No. 6
Do you know how bands, choirs, cheerleaders, dancers, etc. will be used, if at all, at games?
“We plan on having cheerleaders and bands. Will it be different with no other fans in the stands? Yes, but we still want them to be included. They’re still part of our activities and athletics, so they would be included. I know some of the issues with marching band and those type of things is the way some of the high schools have switched their scheduling. So they’re not going to be having that every quarter (of the school year).
“But how do you do remote marching band practice? I know these are a lot of things Shawn (Chastain, USD 259 fine arts executive coordinator) is working through right now. But if there’s a way to make it work, all of those would probably be involved, too.”
What reaction have you seen from players and coaches?
“I got a lot of emails and texts last night saying, ‘Thank you for the support.’ Today, I haven’t really had the chance to reach out and talk to any of them, but I was about to get ready to sneak out of the office and drop in on a practice to see what it was like. It has been one meeting after another working on some of the things we’ve been talking about, but there was a lot of emotion going around last night.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 4:04 PM.