Athletes, parents and those who would like to see high school tennis added as an extracurricular activity in the Gering Public Schools are facing a difficult match.

A written tennis team proposal was presented to GPS athletics director Tom O’Boyle in September by Sharon Doll and supporters of the sport, but was rejected in late October after school officials determined it did not meet all the requirements for timely presentation as outlined in a school district policy. A policy requirement that new activities be submitted to school administration before March 1 means the board of education may not take action on the proposal until as late as December 2010.

Tennis supporters, however, believe their official proposal did meet the requirements of the Student Extracurricular Activities policy. They say the language in the district’s policy that addresses the March 1 deadline and other issues related to adding a new student activity is “vague” and “unclear.”

“The addition of activities will be carefully examined for its benefits to students within the resource limitations of the district. The following items will be considered prior to the recommendation to the board for the addition of an interscholastic activity,” the policy states, followed by a list that includes a requirement that proposals of new activities be submitted to school administration before March 1.

The complex issue was volleyed at Monday’s Board of Education meeting, with board members not only expressing concern about the propriety of the proposal, but also about the cost of adding an activity that may require significant funding for travel and other expenses.

Superintendent Don Hague said he has concern about adding any extracurricular activity at this time, given the fact that the district may be facing significant budget cuts in the near future.

Earlier this month, Governor Dave Heineman proposed a budget plan that slashes spending to combat a projected $334 million shortfall in the state’s two-year budget. In addition to sweeping budget cuts in all state agencies, Heineman’s plan proposes to eliminate an expected $47 million increase in state aid for schools during the 2010-2011 school year.

Hague said he would have a difficult time approving the addition of an extracurricular activity like tennis, given the negative impact the state budget cuts will likely have on the local school district.

“I have a hard time going through budget cuts and then approving an activity,” he said. “Budget cuts are coming.”

However, according to the proposal not all expenses would be borne by the school district. The proposal states that the district would cover travel expenses for out-of-town contests and the cost of simple uniforms – a T-shirt for each player. Tennis balls would be provided by the district or by a tennis booster club. Fund-raising activities by booster club members and the Gering Tennis Club would help cover other expenses and players would provide their own racquets, the proposal states.

During an allotted five-minute time to speak at Monday’s meeting, Doll said creating an official tennis team in the Gering public schools has been a long time coming. A 1980 graduate of GHS, Doll said she tried for three years before she finished high school to get a local school tennis program off the ground.

“Here we are 29 years later and we still don’t have a tennis program,” she said.

Doll asked the board to clarify the district’s extracurricular activities policy and also urged the board to take action on the proposal that she said was properly submitted to the school district.

“Our hope, of course, is that you will take this into consideration,” she said. “You know, I hate to see it take another year.”

Doll said a number of students who are in their last year of high school are ready to play tennis. The proposal lists 27 students who are active in club tennis and who want to participate on a high school tennis team. Eleven of those students are seniors. Waiting until December 2010 to take action due to a misunderstanding about the district’s policy would not be fair to the seniors or to any of the students, Doll said.

“I just feel that it’s unfair that we wait another year because of an unclear policy,” Doll said.

Board member B.J. Peters said he believes the language in the policy is clear. He said while he is in favor of students being involved in extracurricular activities, he is concerned that the available funds in the school district are being “stretched thin.”

While the board took no official action on Monday, board members did agree that an effort should be made to gather more specific information before the December board meeting, including the expected cost of the tennis program, scheduling details and the geographic proximity of schools that have tennis teams and would participate in contests with the Gering team.

Board member Mike Brunner suggested O’Boyle gather the information and present it to the personnel and business committees in the coming days. After reviewing the information, the committees will have the option of bringing the issue before the board of education as an action item on the December meeting agenda, school board president Drew Lyon said. At that time, the board could vote to waive the March 1 requirement, although Brunner said any policy waiver should only occur in an emergency situation.

“I don’t think this meets the qualifications to be an emergency to waive the policy,” he said.

Brunner did, however, state that he believes the language included in the policy is vague.

“Strictly from a policy standpoint, it’s not a well-written policy,” he said. “We shouldn’t have a policy that is that vague.”