DPS Activities Merger With Milford Appears Likely

Over the past decade, Dorchester High School and Dorchester Junior High have experienced a significant decline in the number of students who participate in athletics and other school activities.  This decline in student involvement has been an often-mentioned topic on the Times. (It should be noted that schools around the state have experienced similar declines, due mostly to single-parent households and less parental involvement, according to experts.)

Last night, Aug. 27, in a special, town-hall style meeting of the Dorchester School Board, parents overwhelming supported the concept of a proposed activities merger with Milford Senior and Junior High Schools. 

Of the  dozens of Dorchester school district parents who attended the meeting, only two raised objects to the DHS-MHS activities merger.

One source told the Times:  "It's going to happen. They (Milford) want us.  We want them."

According to the details provided to the Times, the merger -- if approved by both school boards -- would impact junior high athletics next year, the 2013-14 school year.  High school sports would be affected the following school year, in 2014-15.  All sporting events would most likely be held at Milford's facilities.  While football seems to be of top concern, it is unclear whether the merger would also apply to basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball and track, or just selected sports.  Also, it is uncertain if the merger would apply to student clubs, such as FFA, drama, FBLA, etc.

As we reported earlier this summer, the shrinking number of DHS and junior high student athletes and club participants has caused many parents with elementary-aged students to wonder if Dorchester will be able to continue supporting current programs a few years from now.  Only 11 DHS students are out for football this year, excluding foreign exchange students.

This latest school board action comes after several complaints were aired earlier this year by some Dorchester School District residents who strongly objected to a plan to join Friend for junior high athletics.  There were reports of aggressive actions by Friend School Board members, who are also large land owners in the Friend district, as they sought to set their own ground rules prior to any activities merger.  (UPDATE: Other Times readers have commented that this is not the case.) One source in Friend told us FPS board members were confident an activities merger could lead to a school merger within two years, which would assist the Friend district with its debt. 

To the best of our knowledge, the plan for an activities merger with Friend has been abandoned, but at least one former Dorchester family has enrolled their children in Friend, which has struggled to field teams of its own.

According to some area residents who spoke to us this summer, Milford officials are very open and interested in discussing the proposed activities merger, but the Times has not spoken to any Milford School Board members to see if the interest still exists.

Milford is classified as a C-1 school in team sports, according to our research.  Merging with a D-2 or D-1 school like Dorchester likely would not affect Milford's status, judging by the numbers needed for Class B attainment.