A half dozen parents and students representing the Cecilia High School varsity soccer program made emotional and sometimes spirited appeals to the St. Martin School Board last week for the inclusion of soccer striping on the new football field under construction at the school.
The striping was included in the original specifications but has since been deleted.
The cost of the striping was estimated to run between $9,000 and $13,000.
Sonny Weber and Brian Bauman, whose children are soccer players, both addressed the board, as did several students. Weber and Bauman both pointed out that the soccer program receives very little financial support from the school system and that boosters have raised more than $40,000 to start and maintain the program.
Bauman said the booster organization was willing to pay the cost of the stripes if necessary.
Students complained that they felt the program was not given the support that other sports received, despite the success of the teams, which have reached the playoffs over the past two seasons.
Bauman asked the board to act immediately to authorize the striping and Jim Poché, whose firm supervises school construction projects, confirmed there is still time to include the stripes.
But a motion to add the issue to the meeting agenda failed with Cecilia area board members Mark Hebert and Frederic Stelly objecting.
But the issue will be included on the agenda of the board’s Nov. 7 meeting.
In other business last week, the board:
•Agreed to advertise for applications for the position of parish maintenance supervisor.
•Delayed action on a proposal by Dist. 4 representative Jimmy Blanchard to add 10 monthly salary supplements of $200 each for all employees.
•Learned from Dist. 3 representative Aaron Flegeance that he was withdrawing his candidacy for re-election.
