Leadership and parent reps met again recently to discuss the current state or Middle School Sports and the association and high schools. Feedback from parents and administrators of the waiver imposed was negative on most fronts. Transportation has been a problem, lack of consistency in schools participating, dissatisfaction of parents and of Middle and High school staff on the unclear direction, chaos or no direction given on the specifics as well as the element of High School league rules and their possible affects to the future inclusion of players playing currently under a named high school..... to name a few. MPS leadership says that it was a budget decision made in 2 hours that affects 4500 families in the district and they are looking in to the cost effectiveness of bringing some sport offerings back to the middle school levels. They also cited lack of facilities of quality and number to accommodate many field sports such as soccer where they have contracted with the Blaine sports center to play. Taking players out of the city to the suburbs creates barriers to participation and although soccer has 300 plus participating city wide it is still just one sport. Commitment to re visit the logistics and cost of individual sports was made by leadership in an effort to assess viable sports that can be supported. City wide volleyball programs in Middle Schools has been inconsistent at best. Some teams play with the high school, some do not, some wear uniform for the high school , some do not, some get buses and some have to forfeit because their game buses come so late or not at all, some teams are aware of the High School league rules and what is essentially governing their rules and them and some are not. Messages and actions from MPS that are not consistent and driven by the goals of inclusion, engagement and growth for the students/players. On the district and Athletic departments FAQ's they state the reasoning for the waiver was to create and nurture a feeder system. This is not working and will not work to engage students overall. Students instead are leaving the district to find more value. MPS is creating situation where it's value is reduced or perceived as less. Taking away inclusion and ways for students to engage is not what MPS needs. They have lost 17,000 students to Charter, Private, Suburbs and other schools in the last 3 years. MPS can not afford to "disengage" families. Please take the survey attached and contact the Assistant Superintendent Mr. Stephen Flisk and Superintendent Ed Graff with your opinions. MPS is a public entity and should have allowed for feedback and input before affecting 4500 families. Now they have to back track and switch reasoning on why it happened. Every move and decision made is budget related in the end but engagement and a loss of 17% market share is something you can not buy. Please urge MPS leadership to bring back middle school sports to the middle schools in the Minneapolis Public Schools to foster inclusion and engagement and growth of the whole student. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MPSMiddleSports