ALBANY - Trying to define where cheerleading falls within the Albany school district's athletic code led to a bigger task Monday night.
The Albany school board was prepared to consider whether to bring the high school cheerleading program under the athletic code of conduct.
Instead, the district's Extracurricular Committee will review the code of conduct, which District Administrator Steve Guenther said is about three years old.
"This was a bigger issue than we could handle at a board meeting," Guenther said. "We thought it was a good time to go in and take a look at the code."
The cheerleading quandary led to the review.
"When we created the program several years ago, cheerleading didn't fall under any category very well," Guenther said. "We had some situations where a girl with an F could go cheer, because they weren't subject to the athletic code."
Cheerleading coach Cara Thompson created the program six years ago to cheer at home basketball games, but the group now performs at home basketball games, regional basketball games on the road, at Homecoming and in cheerleading competitions in Madison.
Thompson said she runs the team as if the cheerleaders were under the code.
The Extracurricular Committee has not set a date to start the code review, but Guenther said the committee plans to include coaches, the athletic director and administrators in the process.
The Albany school board was prepared to consider whether to bring the high school cheerleading program under the athletic code of conduct.
Instead, the district's Extracurricular Committee will review the code of conduct, which District Administrator Steve Guenther said is about three years old.
"This was a bigger issue than we could handle at a board meeting," Guenther said. "We thought it was a good time to go in and take a look at the code."
The cheerleading quandary led to the review.
"When we created the program several years ago, cheerleading didn't fall under any category very well," Guenther said. "We had some situations where a girl with an F could go cheer, because they weren't subject to the athletic code."
Cheerleading coach Cara Thompson created the program six years ago to cheer at home basketball games, but the group now performs at home basketball games, regional basketball games on the road, at Homecoming and in cheerleading competitions in Madison.
Thompson said she runs the team as if the cheerleaders were under the code.
The Extracurricular Committee has not set a date to start the code review, but Guenther said the committee plans to include coaches, the athletic director and administrators in the process.