“With all due respect to you and ASDOE, as a principal, teacher, parent and coach of two of the sports affected, I am deeply disappointed in the decision to cancel sports.”
That’s a statement from a letter by Faasao Marist High School principal , President of the National Olympic Committee and softball and baseball coach, Victor Langkilde to Director of Education Vaitinasa Dr. Salu Hunkin Finau over her decision to cancel all sports effective today. ‘
DOE sent out a notice of the cancellation after 4 pm Friday which KHJ News aired on our evening bulletins on 93 KHJ and V103 and posted on our website talanei.com
The notice only said that the cancellation was due to lack of bus transportation and that DOE‘s main priority is instruction.
And for any questions call Deputy Director Faauifono Vaitautolu at 633-5237, which is the DOE main office number. The office is not opened on weekends.
The sports cancellation was not covered in the director’s monthly press conference held the day before.
Langkilde’s letter to the DOE Director gives a snapshot of what has been relayed to school principals regarding the reasons for the cancellation.
“The reason you emailed the schools was because ASDOE had 15 operable buses with which DOE transports both private and public school students throughout the island. ASODE now has 13 operable buses, the lead manager of the mechanics has just resigned and ASG is trying to pay all the overtime for the bus drivers accumulated from first semester sports competitions.”
Langkilde summarizes that the Director went on to express that the primary purpose of DOE transportation is to transport students living outside the “one mile radius requirement.”
The principal said in the last four years, this is the second time that ASDOE has stopped 2nd semester sports programs without any consideration to the efforts put into these programs by schools, coaches, parents and most importantly “our children.”
ASHAA has 9 sports events each school year.
According to Langkilde for the current school year in the first semester there were two sports programs for boys: football and volleyball and only one for girls: volleyball.
In the second semester there are six sports programs: boys have soccer, basketball and baseball. And girls have soccer, basketball and softball.
He said to cancel second semester sports not only ends 70% of the sports program for the whole school year, but more concerning is it will eliminate the girls sports program,
It’s Langkilde’s guess that ASODE spends twice as much during the football seasons than all of the programs in Semester Two put together and points to ASG funding the cost of the senior football team to Hawaii in December.
He tells the DOE Director, “It makes one wonder if the government can find money to pay for a trip for football players only two months ago, cant it find funds to continue Semester Two sports?”
He adds, without any more information about this decision, it would seem as if there has been no effort to try to find another solution before suddenly ending the Semester Two sports programs yet again.
Langkilde elaborates on the role of sports in teaching teamwork, commitment, determination respect and other values, and said it also has been proven to improve grades and enhance confidence especially in girls.
He also informs the DOE Director that parents have already purchased uniforms, private school coaches have provided transportation and held training in the hot sun for players, and parents have already signed consent forms.
He said parents want their children to compete for athletic scholarships offered in other sports just like football players.
He asks how can we do this if we keep cancelling our sports programs?
Langkilde concludes by asking the DOE Director to reconsider her decision to cancel all sports.
The DOE director is calling a meeting at 1 pm today in her office with the PTA officers of the high school affected by the sports cancellation.
