Parents to rally, board to meet about sports conditioning

 

Parents of student-athletes at Paloma Valley and Heritage high schools continue to be proactive in their efforts to convince Perris Union High School District board members to allow preseason conditioning workouts.

Last Thursday, board members tabled action on a proposal by superintendent Grant Bennett and area athletic directors to safely allow the opening of outdoor conditioning for football players and athletes in other traditional fall sports. The CIF Southern Section has scheduled the opening of the sports season in December, but high school athletes in many local districts have been working out for almost three weeks.

Seeking to mount a united front to accelerate the process, parents have scheduled a rally for Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the intersection of Newport Road and Haun Road in Menifee. The rally will come one day before PUHSD board members will reconsider the proposal -- with some changes likely -- in a special virtual meeting Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

At last week's meeting, board members discussed reviewing a revised proposal in about two weeks. That meeting will now come just a week after the Sept. 24 meeting, which was followed by widespread complaints from parents on social media and in emails to board members.

The agenda for Thursday's meeting has not been released, but PUHSD deputy superintendent Candace Reines confirmed that the re-evaluation of athletic conditioning will be the subject of the meeting.