Local News - January 2004

Opposition lingers to middle school cheerleading

Published January 7, 2004

By SARAH GRANO, Staff Writer

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After reading suggested guidelines for implementing cheerleading in middle schools, many Board of Education members voiced opposition to middle school cheerleading.

“I still have problems with it because I know personally how our principals feel about this,” said Jean Dellinger, chairman of the policy committee, after reading the guidelines.

“I do not remember this board ever going against what a principal wants for his or her school.”

 A committee of parents, teachers and principals put together the guidelines. All four middle school principals in the county have already spoken out against adding cheerleading to their schools.

The committee believed that cheerleaders should have grade and attendance requirements and be chosen based on a scoring rubric as well as teacher recommendations.

The committee also suggest having two squads at each school, one for basketball and one for football, with 12-16 girls on each squad.

Members of the committee disagreed on certain issues, but climate of the meeting was positive, said Phyllis Tallent, assistant superintendent of support services.

“Everyone tried to work through it and tried to come up with some recommendations, and everyone knew they were only recommendations,” Tallent said.

“I am pleased with the guidelines. I thought there was some flexibility there.”

Not everyone in the policy committee was pleased with the new guidelines.

Both Jean Dellinger and George Dellinger told the policy committee they had been receiving calls from parents against cheerleading in middle schools.

“They say ‘You have been putting your energy towards academics, continue to do that and raise it to where we’re supposed to be. Do not take it down with cheerleading,” George Dellinger said.

Some of the calls and letters board members received weren’t only against cheerleading in middle schools, they also criticized cheerleading in general.

George Dellinger read a letter that said cheerleaders did not cheer, instead they danced and did gymnastics.

“What he has said is absolutely true,” said Jean Dellinger. “That is exactly what it is. It is a show out there. It is not leading cheers, and I think that is the problem.”

Despite the strong opinions of Jean Dellinger and George Dellinger, the policy committee did not come up with a recommendation to make at the Board of Education’s January meeting.

The committee did however make a motion to have the issue resolved once and for all at that meeting.

Lincoln County is one of the only counties in North Carolina that does not have cheerleading in middle schools.

When junior high schools changed to middle schools in 1989 cheerleading was dropped because many believed that it did not work with the middle school concept, which emphasized inclusion rather than exclusion.

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Staff Writer Sarah Grano can be reached at 704-735-3031 or sgrano@ltnews.com

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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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