JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Juneau School District has decided to move forward with a plan to conjoin Thunder Mountain and Juneau-Douglas high schools’ football and cheerleading teams. Superintendent Mark Miller announced on Thursday that the district is submitting a
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Juneau School District has decided to move forward with a plan to conjoin Thunder Mountain and Juneau-Douglas high schools’ football and cheerleading teams.
Superintendent Mark Miller announced on Thursday that the district is submitting a formal request to the Alaska School Activities Association to consolidate the teams, the Juneau Empire reported .
The request also includes allowing Thunder Mountain students to play on Juneau-Douglas’ hockey team, Miller said.
“The decision has been two years in the making, taking into consideration important issues such as player safety and development, season cost, program debt and repayment progress,” Miller said.
Both schools have struggled to cover costs during the past two seasons. Juneau-Douglas’ football program started this past season $5,689 in debt, while Thunder Mountain’s debt was just more than $100,000.
“When we balanced it out really, financial stability was really the tipping point,” Miller said.
Details like uniform colors will be made later, if consolidation is approved.
The district expects an answer to its request sometime in November.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
