Holt Senior Sports Program is safe, but the problem remains, the school principal says

A controversial public meeting at Holt High School on February 10 was full of speculation, and it was supposed that the Tuscaloosa County school system was planning to close the school’s athletics program and send players to Brookwood or Tottenham Scaloosa County High School.

The rumors are derived from a press release that appears to indicate that the athletic program has been terminated after the 2025-26 school year, and the school will become a magnet school for TCSS students. The social media rumors caused chaos, and the rumors that Principal Keri Johnson faced at the meeting expressed many parents and expressed their concerns.

Johnson provided information indicating Holtgao sports. However, Randy Smalley, a member of the school board, issued a clear statement at the meeting saying Holt’s sports plan was not closed.

The high school sports at Tuscaloosa County High School are self-sustaining and are not funded by the school board. Holt’s income numbers are well below the income numbers of Sipsey Valley and Northside, the two closest high schools to have students. Holt has 431 students and is rated as a Class 4A by the Alabama High School Athletic Association. It is the smallest of Tuscaloosa County high schools.

More: What led to the controversial public meeting of Holt High School?

“We are exploring the revenue of sports programs, and it’s definitely something we’re talking about, but it’s not on the stone. That’s not a decision at that time.”

The principal said she and board members tried to use public meetings to get input on how to improve HOLT and keep the athletic program viable. According to information provided by Johnson, the Holt Football Program generates about a quarter of the revenue that is in the Sipsey Valley and the north. Holt’s football program generated $28,595, while Sipsey Valley’s $131,902.65 and Northside’s $108,502.75.

Overall, Holt’s sports program generated $122,412.05, or one-third of the total revenue from Sipsey Valley or Northside. Holt and Northside currently have two of the county’s oldest soccer fields, but Holt has the latest high school building, while the new $3 million baseball/softball complex is close to the county The school committee pays for the campus.

Aside from the income issue, one of Holt’s main problems is the lack of participation of parents and communities in the school, which Johnson believes will affect student participation levels among student athletes.

“We’ve been for a few years and we’ve had a team where we can’t send a team. I mean, this has happened. It has happened. It’s not like we predicted that this will happen. It has happened. It has happened. . I don’t want Holt’s kids to know, do I want to play a team next year? They know year after year, and that’s a problem,” Johnson said.

Holt Football Field was a point of debate at the conference, with the public complaining about the general condition of restrooms and facilities, home to the old Jack Warner Parkway high school. Johnson said the system was forced to build a new stadium in Brookwood because the old facilities were too deteriorating and there were safety concerns for fans and athletes. The only school with an old stadium is the height of the north. There is no money to build another stadium.

Johnson said the 2023 tax referendum failed, seriously affecting the system’s financial situation. If taxes pass, a new stadium is part of the expenditure plan. The referendum failed in every voting district in Tuscaloosa County, including the Holt area. Johnson estimates that the cost of the new stadium is about $15 million.

“We don’t have the funds to build a brand new stadium. You know, we have the lowest property taxes that are not our source of income, not where they need us to go to the bond market I mean, we also need to build a few schools. “We won’t be able to borrow money to build without a new source of income. We won’t have a long time bond to go back to the bond market. So, I mean, we can’t build large capital projects.”

Johnson highlighted the work done in football venues, including updating the team’s locker room, purchasing new lockers, and the bathroom also attracted attention. But Johnson said there are restrictions on what aging restrooms can do before they have to demolish and rebuild current building regulations, which requires money that the system does not have.

Johnson said she wanted to get the booster club into Holt because in other TCSS high schools, booster clubs are the main source of income for sports programs. She believes that community engagement and support are key to making Holt High Sports viable in the long term.

“They can get in touch with their coaches and they need to ask their coaches what they can do to get support. How can they form a booster club? If they don’t know it’s time to talk to you, they can always call the PhD. ( Daniel) Principal Dickens, letting them know they want to be involved, and he will help them do what needs to be done to raise awareness, increase support, raise funds,” Johnson said.

In Gary Cosby Jr. gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared in Tuscaloosa News: Holt High Sports plans are safe, but the problem remains.