School board braces for passionate football supporters

Mar. 18—VERNON TOWNSHIP — Crawford Central School District officials anticipate passionate supporters of two rival football teams to turn out in force tonight as board members consider a perplexing triple option.

With the board scheduled to discuss the future of the Cochranton Junior-Senior High football team, President Kevin Merritt outlined three possibilities in an interview Friday.

"Continue the way we are, have no team, or do a co-op with MASH (Meadville Area Senior High) and be penalized for two years," Merritt said. "Before you know it, football is going to be here, so it's kind of imperative we do this this month and move forward."

In anticipation of the discussion, Merritt said the district conference room was being rearranged to accommodate a larger-than-usual crowd, two police officers would be present, and additional parking would be allowed at the the Kinetic by Windstream facility located across the street from the Instructional Resource Center where board meetings take place.

"I know there's going to be some people there to address the board," Merritt said. "They're expecting a crowd and we'll just see how it all plays out."

Attendance at the meeting has been promoted widely on social media among Cochranton residents in particular since at least March 9. Many of the posts have included a graphic with an image of the Cochranton Cardinal mascot — a bird that appears a bit bad tempered even on a good day — along with the meeting time and location and a message: "Show up and save our football, band & cheerleading programs!"

The concern over the football team, and the performance opportunities its games provide for the marching band and cheer squad, comes in the wake of the resignation of coach Mike Feleppa in January. Feleppa had hoped to increase the team's pool of players through a cooperative agreement with Commodore Perry High School in Hadley, which is about a 25-minute drive southwest of Cochranton.

Due to a clerical error on the school's part that overstated the number of students at Cochranton, the proposed co-op would have bumped the team up from 1A to 2A competition. While Feleppa was willing to move forward, school officials chose not to pursue the co-op, and appeals to PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association) officials to allow the school to resubmit the incorrect data were unsuccessful.

As the school board considers whether to replace Feleppa, board members have requested additional information regarding expected football participation levels among the school's approximately 95 boys, according to Merritt. With data expected tonight, board members will consider potential safety issues that could result from low participation.

If board members are comfortable with participation levels, they could maintain the status quo and move forward with hiring a new coach, according to Merritt. Another possibility is simply discontinuing the team.

The third possibility — and the one likely to draw Meadville Bulldogs supporters to the meeting — is to create a cooperative agreement between Crawford Central's two high schools that allows Cochranton players to compete on the Meadville team.

The downside, Merritt explained, is that doing so would force Meadville from Class 4A to 5A. Even more importantly, however, because the PIAA deadline for such a move passed last fall, the move would result in a two-year playoff moratorium for the team, a penalty Merritt says was designed to encourage schools to plan ahead for such changes. The plan would also require approvals and waivers from PIAA due to the missed deadline — the same organization that already denied Cochranton's request to correct its enrollment data.

Merritt turned to billiards to explain the football dilemma.

"We're behind the eight ball," he said.

Extricating themselves will likely be difficult, Merritt continued.

"Now we're in the discussion of the football program in general," he said. "If we decide that we're not doing it, we want to go (cooperate with Meadville), we're still behind that eight ball because we missed it in the fall. We should have had that plan in in the fall if we wanted to go to Meadville."

In what is likely a sign of the frustration felt following the PIAA's denial of Cochranton's appeal — which is forcing the school's successful girls volleyball team to move from Class 1A to 2A for the next two years — the board will consider another discussion topic as well: PIAA's use of district facilities.

Also on the agenda are two other topics for discussion: the feasibility study on the district's buildings on which board members heard a presentation last month and the 2024-25 budget.

While the football situation did not seem to offer any obvious great choices, Merritt was optimistic with regard to the meeting.

"I think it'll be a good discussion tonight," he said of the meeting. "I don't think it will be super-duper long."

YOU CAN GO

Crawford Central School Board meets today at 5:30 p.m. at the Instructional Resource Center, 11280 Mercer Pike. Those who wish to address the board should arrive a few minutes early to place their names on the public comment sign-in sheet. If needed, additional parking is available directly across the street at the Kinetic by Windstream facility, 11317 Mercer Pike.

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.