BOE Should Fund Championship Bowling Team, Parents Say

Glen Rock basketball players are bused to games. Their coaches receive paid stipends too. So why not the reigning county bowling champions, parents asked the school board Monday night. 

"We deserve the same funding as other sports are receiving," parent Michelle Strasburg said addressing the board.

Coaches in other sports like hockey and basketball receive stipends of $3,000 and north for their time. Glen Rock boys bowling coach Joe Serico, whose team won the Bergen County tournament a few weeks ago, does not.

Parents are worried Serico will not stick it out over the long haul if he doesn't receive some compensation.

"We would like to ask for $5,000 for our coach," Strasburg appealed to the board.

Strasburg asked that busing be provided as well to Parkway Lanes in Elmwood Park. Many potential players were unable to join the team because they did not have a ride, another parent added in support.

The request, according to school board president Sheldon Hirschberg, has been brought to the administration but had not yet reached the board.

Glen Rock's school board will be exploring the idea, Hirschberg said, calling Strasburg's request "legitimate."

When the program was first presented five years ago, it was framed as not providing additional cost to the board. But, said Hirschberg, times change.

"Because that was said doesn't mean we can't change it. It is a work-in-process."