CENTRAL SQUARE, N.Y. — At Central Square’s board of education meeting, members discussed the athletic placement process for middle schoolers.

The idea, implemented at the district in fall 2023, prevents seventh-grade students from using the athletic placement process to participate in contact sports or sports that pose a safety risk at the high school level if there is a modified option.

The decision still permits eighth-grade students to complete the APP process and try out for junior varsity and varsity teams.

Superintendent Tom Colabufo said this simply boils down to keeping a 12- or 13-year-old who may pass a physical test but emotionally and socially may not be ready for being surrounded by a team of 17- and 18-year-olds.

In contact sports, physical differences can matter a lot, especially when the player is younger.

Colabufo, who has coached varsity sports before, points to the emotional and social factors that go together with physicality as to why the district wants to keep seventh graders in modified sports.

We had to go through experiences with seventh graders—I won’t say boys or girls—but there were issues, and the parents were right. It all came back to the fact that these kids were hanging out with kids that were significantly older.

He and the school district athletic director said they struggled with making this decision as they see both sides of the argument.

Parents love their kids, and so if they want their child to have the opportunity to play JV or varsity as a seventh grader, that’s coming from a good place—they love their kid and they want that for their child.

The New York State Education Department recommends that athletic competition is important to the development of the whole child and that students benefit when they can participate in such activities at a pace that is consistent with their physical and emotional maturity, size, fitness level, and athletic skill.

The board adjourned on the policy for now, as they want to send this back to the policy committee, where they will do several readings on it. Then it will have to pass in a majority vote by the school board to be implemented.