BELLVILLE, Ohio — Athletic Director Joe Tresey suggested a the Clear Fork Board of Education consider alternatives because their sports programs are struggling to be competitive in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Board members listened as Tresey and high school Principal Brian Brown outlined a proposal to join another conference.
“We have a great relationship with OCC schools,” Brown said, but noted it is hard to be competitive in a conference dominated by larger schools.
Tresey noted that in the past Clear Fork and Orrville were the smaller schools in the OCC. He said Orrville is dropping out and will be replaced by Mount Vernon, which would be the largest school in the conference.
Clear Fork student athletes have been forced to “play up” against bigger schools in almost every game. Though their girl’s sports have experienced the most success, boy’s teams have struggled.
According to figures provided by Tresey, the OCC has five schools with over 600 students in grades 9-11. By comparison, Clear Fork has 381 eligible students for athletic programs.
Tresey said they have been invited to join the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference (MOAC), Red Division. If accepted, Clear Fork would join Buckeye Valley, Galion, Jonathan Alder, Marion Harding, North Union, Marion Pleasant and River Valley.
These schools have comparable enrollment and are located in communities similar to Clear Fork. Tresey’s report noted that MOAC has one school with over 600 students, Marion Harding, but has six schools under 455.
Brown said that right now MOAC presents Clear Fork with the best alternative. Noting that some changes may be taking place soon, he said there could be other opportunities out there.
One concern with joining MOAC is the driving distance for schools. Currently Clear Fork travels an average of 29 miles but if they join MOAC that would almost double to an average of 46.85 miles
Jim Klenk noted that participation in Clear Fork’s athletic programs is down. Brown suggested that “success breeds success,” echoing the sentiment that participation is down because of losing seasons in some of the sports.
For now, the proposal is for information only and no action was requested.
School building issue remains undecided
Officials announced they were not in a position to decide whether to build one consolidated elementary or two elementary schools.
School board Treasurer Bradd Stevens explained the district doesn’t have all the necessary information from the state. They are waiting for the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to provide a “notice of conditional approval,” before proceeding.
The district is also waiting on “geo-technical engineering details.”
Board members heard updates from Josh Predovich, project manager for the architecture firm assisting the district. He provided updated figures that suggest building on existing sites is possible and within the cost range previously forecast.
Predovich provided a possible building site for Bellville that is outside of the “floodway.” A floodway is both the channel of a river or stream and the adjacent land needed to discharge flood waters, according to FEMA. A floodplain is the land that has or could flood every 100 years.
The next Clear Fork school board meeting will be Dec. 10.
