Murphy – Job listings have been sent out for two athletic trainer positions following the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners’ permission to use sales tax proceeds to fund the positions for one year.
After that year is up, it’s anyone’s guess.
Education and political leaders have been scrambling to fill the two positions following news that Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva will no longer provide them for school sports in Cherokee and Clay counties.
It is unclear why the hospital is discontinuing the service, which was provided at no cost to the counties. During an earlier board of commissioners meeting in May, officials said that Harris Regional withdrew support in Cherokee and Clay counties because injured athletes were apparently seeking treatment at nearby hospitals when needed.
Harris Regional gave the notice of its decision on May 4, affecting the upcoming football season.
N.C. Athletic Association rules require athletic trainers be present at football, a fall sport; and wrestling, a winter sport. Without athletic trainers, there will be no football or wrestling seasons, county and school officials said; however, football was the most pressing issue, with the most popular sports season about to begin.
The school board sought the commissioners’ permission to draw $153,552 from schools-focused quarter-cent sales tax revenues to pay for salary and benefits for two athletic trainer positions. The board approved the request on May 23 by an unanimous vote. The expense leaves a balance of $1.69 million in the school district’s sales tax fund.
The funding is for one year and does not address how the positions will be funded moving forward, but it gives the school district breathing room while it seeks a longer-term solution.
School officials have reached out to Union General Hospital in Blairsville, Ga., and Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital in Peachtree to work out something similar to what Harris Regional had been providing before its withdrawal. Neither hospital was prepared to provide athletic trainers on such short notice, but school officials are optimistic that something can be worked out.
County Commissioner Jan Griggs, who represents the Hiwassee Dam area, and school board Chair Shannon Raper expressed concerns about parity between Andrews and Murphy high schools, which benefit from the athletic trainers, and Hiwassee Dam School, which does not offer football and wrestling and would not have a trainer. The trainers have been present at sports other than football and wrestling when time permits, but not at Hiwassee Dam.
Despite her concerns, Griggs voted for the funding, whereas Raper, at the school board’s May 18 meeting, cast the lone no vote in the board’s request for the money.
While emergency medical technicians and nurses can provide some level of treatment to injured players, athletic trainers receive specialized training to prevent further or long-term injuries as well as recuperative physical therapy.
School board member Jeff Tatham approached the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners earlier in May asking the county to give pre-approval for the funds in advance of the school board meeting. But Raper, who was also at that meeting, said the board needed to wait until the school board had a chance to discuss the issue and come back with a formal plan.
That plan would be approved by the board on a 5-1 vote, with Raper voting no and Jason Murphy absent and not voting.
At the board of commissioners’ May 23 meeting, board Chair Cal Stiles questioned whether the athletic trainer positions were really full time and was concerned that the positions pay more than what math and science teachers make.
Commissioner Randy Phillips, a school resources officer on convalescent leave, said the trainers spend their off time working with other athletes, and even non-athletes, to address their injuries and recuperation. Griggs suggested that the trainers spend some time with Hiwassee Dam athletes as well.