By Joe Pinchot

Herald Staff Writer

When Scott Free received an email last week from a Hermitage school sports official that a cooperative agreement between Hermitage and Sharpsville for girls soccer was a done deal, he was surprised.

Free, of Hermitage, whose daughter plays soccer, told the Hermitage School Board Monday that he thought there was to be an opportunity for parents to express concerns about the agreement for Sharpsville students to play on Hermitage girls varsity and junior varsity teams. Free said he had attended meetings in which the idea was discussed.

“A lot of parents left that meeting two months ago feeling they would have their concerns addressed,” he said. “The process, I don’t think, was followed.”

Free added that he does not necessarily have any problems with the proposal, but believes parents and others with stakes in the program should have an opportunity to discuss the proposal.

Although Hermitage officials believe Sharpsville School Board has approved the agreement, Hermitage School Board members, who were to approve it Monday, tabled it to allow anyone with a positive or negative comment the opportunity to express it.

Superintendent Karen A. Ionta said she did not know about the e-mail and apologized if Free and others were not given an opportunity to comment. She said she knows some parents did approach school officials and talked about the proposal.

Board member Dr. Morren Greenburg said he believes Sharpsville officials approached Hermitage officials because they were having problems attracting enough girls to stock full varsity and junior varsity soccer teams.

Mrs. Ionta said she likes the proposed agreement because it could make Hermitage more competitive. The district plays soccer in class AAA, and is the 3rd-smallest school among the 16 AAA teams. Six of those teams have cooperative agreements, she said.

Board member Raymond Slovesko made the motion to table the agreement in order for officials to collect more information and have the board’s athletic committee make a recommendation to the full board. Greenburg asked that anyone with a thought on the proposal contact Athletic Director Barb Dzuricsko in the next week.

The delay will affect the summer soccer problem, which is supposed to start in about 3 weeks, Mrs. Ionta said.