Williamsburg Independent School has added its first, and currently only, elementary-level athletics team.
During their regular monthly meeting last Tuesday, the Williamsburg Board of Education unanimously approved a request to add an elementary swim team to the school district’s athletics lineup. Jerry Herron, Williamsburg’s athletic director, presented the board with the proposal during last week’s meeting. According to Herron, the team already has the backing of multiple parents and students.
The team will begin competitive play during the current school year, as the season for elementary swim teams begins April 1.
“We’re just excited to give our kids a chance to do another sports,” said Herron.
The team is expected to utilize the pool at the University of the Cumberlands and Herron noted that the school district currently has a verbal agreement with the university. A formal memorandum of understanding is still pending.
There is expected to be an associated cost for the use of the pool, though Herron said that it would be included in the team’s budget.
The teams is expected to compete against Corbin, Whitley County, South Laurel and North Laurel, as each school district is also looking to add elementary swim teams, according to Herron.
In addition to the approval of the elementary team, Herron asked the board to consider also adding boys and girls high school swim teams for the 2025-2026 school year. As part of that request, Herron asked that each respective coach to receive a stipend similar to that of coaches in other comparable sports, such as tennis. That stipend isn’t expected to exceed $2,500.
No formal action was taken regarding the high school teams, though their season does not begin until winter.
In other board of education business:
– The board approved the first draft of the 2025-2026 school calendar.
Bryan Berta, director of pupil personnel for the district, presented board members with the draft. Berta said that the district is looking to move back to a traditional calendar versus the variable calendar that has been in use for several years. According to Berta, a variable calendar allows a school district to go by instructional hours and minutes instead of instructional days.
As a requirement by the Kentucky Department of Education, school districts following a traditional calendar must have 170 days. The draft approved last week by the board currently includes 173 instructional days.
“Some may say, ‘Why do we have 173 days if we’re only required to go 170?’ Teachers wanted more instruction time in the classroom. Some of the staff concerns that we had in some of the meetings is that instruction time needs to increase,” said Berta.
However, if time is missed due to school closure, those three days do not have to be made up as long as the district meets the required 170 days.
