photo by: Courtesy photo

Free State's gymnastics squad poses with the state championship plaque Saturday afternoon at Newton High School on Nov. 7, 2020. The Firebirds won a state title for the first time since 2014.

Updated at 5:24 p.m. Monday

Citing various issues, including a tight budget, the Lawrence school district’s administration is recommending the discontinuation of its high school gymnastics program.

Some people who are involved with the program said they felt blindsided by the recommendation, especially because the program has been successful in recent years and offers an athletic opportunity to the district’s girls.

The recommendation also comes at a time when athletics have been touted as especially important while students struggle with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is very, very disappointing,” said Sally Zogry, a parent of a student gymnast. “This is a big thing, if this is your sport, especially given the last two years (during the pandemic). Now you’re not going to have your sport, your team or your coaches. That is a big loss for girls.”

photo by: Contributed

Lawrence gymnast Sophia Zogry

The district announced in an email to the program’s athletes and parents on Sunday that administrators have recommended the discontinuation of the program, which includes two separate teams at Lawrence High School and Free State High School. Both schools have been very successful, winning a combined total of eight state titles since 2004.

Kat Farrow, coach for the program, said in an email to the program’s families on Saturday that she and the other gymnastic coaches had been informed of the recommendation to discontinue through a meeting with district administrators, but had no prior warning of the possibility. She said she felt the administrators showed disrespect to and disregard for the program’s athletes by the way it was handled.

“We three coaches are still in shock and are in disbelief, but we met yesterday to discuss how to let you all know. We decided we didn’t want the girls to hear from anyone else, but from us directly,” Farrow said in the message to families, a day before the district made the announcement. “Additionally, we can’t be there for every girl on such short notice, so we thought it best to tell you all so that you can be there for them when they find out. They will need you right now.”

The district email acknowledged that its decision would not sit well with the participants.

“The administration understands that the discontinuation of the program may cause feelings of loss and frustration among the student-athletes, their families, and coaches,” the district said in the email. “We want to acknowledge the hard work and success of the teams, the individual student-athletes, and the coaches.”

Despite being a mostly female sport, the district also said the discontinuation of the program would not pose any issues with Title IX requirements.

The program has not yet been officially nixed. The school board still needs to weigh in on the issue and must approve the district administration’s proposal. Zogry said she and other parents planned to fight to keep the program, which competes in the fall.

She said the parents and athletes planned to meet to discuss their options, and they also planned to take their concerns to the school board in hopes of persuading them to find a way to keep the program.

“We are definitely standing up for the program, our daughters and the future athletes,” Zogry said.

There are several reasons for the school district’s recommendation. The district cited concerns about low participation, with just 22 students from the two high schools, and a small number of programs in the state. It also said the program lacked dedicated practice space in the district.

Additionally, the district said the school’s athletic conference, the Sunflower League, has been discussing a discontinuation of the program because there are only three 6A programs, including Lawrence, and 14 programs statewide.

But the most significant may be the district’s budget, which has been an issue for the school board since the coronavirus pandemic led to a significant enrollment drop, which means less state funding for the district. In the email, the district said it costs about $32,000 a year to operate the program, which includes the cost of coaching, equipment and transportation.

Zogry said those concerns were frustrating because parents and the student-athletes have worked to raise funds for the program, but have not felt enough support from the district to be successful. She also said she thought the program was growing, with about eight new gymnasts participating this fall.

Zogry said she was devastated for her daughter, who has been a varsity gymnast since she was a freshman. Her daughter, Sophia, will be a senior next year when the program is planned to be cut, which is when she likely would have been a team captain.

“This is something she’s dedicated a lot of time, energy and passion to,” Zogry said. “Of course it would be disappointing (to take it away).”

Sophia also said she was upset by the district’s recommendation, especially because gymnastics is a mostly female sport, according to a social media post from the LHS student newspaper The Budget.

“It’s really unfair and honestly infuriating because, as a completely woman-dominated sport, it always feels like no administrators listen to or care about us,” Sophia told The Budget.

Meanwhile, if the program is discontinued, the district said it would commit to working with families “to explore other gymnastics opportunities” in the community.

But Zogry said she had issues with that as well, because club gymnastics can be very expensive and many families likely could not afford the costs. She also pointed to the district’s focus on equity, suggesting cutting the program and shifting the athletes to an expensive club program is in conflict with equity goals.

“I’m very proud of (the athletes) because they have stood up and said, ‘We are a women’s sport and we are not being given the same recognition and support and we are not being treated equally with the male sports,'” Zogry said. “That is an issue worldwide and we are seeing a micro example.”

School district spokeswoman Julie Boyle told the Journal-World on Monday that no date has been set for when the school board will consider the recommendation. The board next meets on Monday, Dec. 13.