** Updated 3/7/2014 **
Both The Oregonian and KOIN news are reporting that PPS high schoool director, Trip Goodall officially announced that Benson and Jefferson would have a full slate of sports during the 2014-2015 school year.
Benson and Jefferson schools will have sports next year, Portland Public Schools confirms
Benson student athletes explain what sports mean to them
** Updated 2/27/2014 **
John Isaacs, Superintendent Carole Smith’s senior policy advisor, is quoted in The Oregonian as saying “No decisions have been made about any athletic programs at any school… There are currently no plans to eliminate any programs. There’s currently no plan to eliminate football or any other sport from Benson.”
This district is planning to meet with various parts of the Benson community over the coming month to discuss this issue.
Read the entire article over at Oregonlive.com
If you thought last Fall’s threat to Benson Athletics had gone away, join the club. It has come to our attention that Athletic Director Haskins’ vision for a new PIL, where athletic resources are concentrated at larger schools while smaller schools are left without, has continued to be discussed over the winter. There may already be preliminary Fall schedules that don’t include Benson Football or Soccer teams.
If you are as dismayed as we are at the prospect of Benson Athletics disappearing, we encourage you to share your thoughts with the following decision makers within PPS:
PPS School Board Members – schoolboard [at] pps [dot] net
Trip Goodall, Director of High Schools – tgoodall [at] pps [dot] net
Carol Smith, Superintendent – csmith [at] pps [dot] net
There is also a march planned to show support for Benson Athletics. It is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 24 at 4:30pm. It will start at Benson and conclude at the PPS Central Headquarters. You can find John Slaughter’s original post at this Benson Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/285304718185521/