MCPS School Board working to fill athletic training positions

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, over 60% of Montgomery County Public Schools high school sporting events have taken place without an athletic trainer on site.

“I understand that there’s been an issue with the trainers but that doesn’t still take away the fact of the safety issue that our kids come first,” MCPS School Board Member Dana Partin said during the Jan. 24 MCPS School Board meeting.

Athletic trainers are currently provided through a partnership with VCOM, LewisGale and Carilion, but this year only Christiansburg High School and Eastern Montgomery High Schools have them.

“Numerous members of the school board have made it very clear in our meetings that student health is a very top priority for our school system and it’s an expensive proposition to add it to our budget, but they’re taking it very seriously and the superintendent presented his budget needs; it was also at the top of his list,” Director of Career and Technical Education and Athletics Mark Husband said.

The school board discussed three options for how to proceed, including the options of hiring full-time trainers through the school district, re-negotiating the current partnership and hiring part time trainers.

“It’s really just up to the board at this point to kind of consider on what the best avenue is to provide that coverage for students at sporting events, while also making sure that we’re using our dollars as efficiently as possible,” Husband said.

“I’ll be honest, I want to see athletic trainers at every sporting event this spring and that’s starting in a month and a half,” Partin said. “I have had several entities and businesses reach out to me personally that are interested.”

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