Fairview to switch athletic conferences
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published May 13, 2009

The Board of Education voted unanimously May 4 to move to the Patriot Athletic Conference in two years.

Superintendent Brion Deitsch told West Life that the decision was made to give student athletes in the Fairview Park Schools the best opportunities for success.

Lower enrollment in the district was a major factor in the decision, said Deitsch, who added that athletics in Ohio is based on numbers.

The enrollment in the district is around 1,700 students. Deitsch said. The West Shore Conference, in which Fairview High School now competes, has three districts with enrollments over 3,400, he noted.

The issue of the district switching conferences arose in October when former Fairview Athletic Director Tom Faska and others passed out flyers during the high school homecoming parade stating that the district was planning a switch.

In response, Deitsch told West Life that he had no interest in leaving the West Shore Conference. However, Fairview High Principal Kevin Liptrap acknowledged having told fellow WSC principals that the district was looking at the option of joining a conference of similarly sized schools.

Deitsch did say at the time that he wanted the WSC to look at expansion for the long-term health of the conference. The goal, he said, was to have two divisions within the conference — one for larger schools and one for smaller schools.

Last week Deitsch said he worked behind the scenes in recent months to attract districts with smaller enrollments to join the WSC but was unsuccessful.

The districts, whom Deitsch declined to name, all said no because they were too small compared to the other WSC schools, he said.

“The second question was ‘What are you guys doing in that league? How do you guys compete?’” Deitsch said.

Deitsch said the district was giving the WSC a two-year notice of its leaving in accordance with its bylaws. No money would be paid by the district to exit earlier than is allowed under the bylaws, the superintendent said.

“I am not interested in paying a fine to get out because that is not being a good steward of the taxpayers’ money,” Deitsch told West Life.

Making the move to the PAC with Fairview is Firelands Local Schools in Oberlin and South Amherst.

Firelands Superintendent Gregory Ring told West Life that the move, which was scheduled to be approved by its school board Monday, allows the district to compete with more similar schools.

“It gives us a more fairly balanced league to compete with,” Ring said.

The move also restores former Lorain County school rivalries, he added. The PAC is made up mostly of districts in Lorain County such as Oberlin, Wellington and Keystone. Lutheran West High School, located in Rocky River, is also a member of the PAC.

Firelands initiated contact with the PAC about joining, Ring said. However, the PAC wanted two districts to join at once to keep its conferences balanced, he said.

“The PAC wouldn’t take us without Fairview,” he said.

Deitsch said the PAC invited Fairview to join but was unaware his district’s actions affected Firelands’ fate.

“I was never told that one hinged on the other,” Deitsch said.

The school board’s actions came at a special meeting held on May 4. However, Deitsch said that the possibility of switching conferences had been discussed at regular board meetings over the past two months.

A possible conference move was not discussed at his annual State of the Schools address on Feb. 26, Deitsch said, because he was still working on efforts to expand the WSC.

“We hadn’t received a formal invitation at that point,” Deitsch added.

Bay Village City Schools Superintendent Clint Keener said the exit of Fairview and Firelands will make scheduling more difficult for the WSC, especially in football. He also lamented the end of longstanding rivalries.

“We’ve had a lot of great contests,” he said. “We’ve had a great rivalry.”

Deitsch told West Life that Fairview High School teams will continue to schedule traditional Westshore rivals Bay Village and Rocky River on a non-conference basis as schedules allow.

Fairview had to make the decision that’s right for them, Keener said, adding that he wishes the district well in the future.

The WSC did not want Fairview or Firelands to leave, Keener said.

“Both schools have been great partners in the league, and we wanted them to stay,” Keener said.

The West Shore Conference now consists of Avon, Bay, Fairview, Firelands, Midview, North Ridgeville, Rocky River, Sherwood Fairview and Vermilion.

Previous West Life articles:

• Deitsch: Fairview staying in WSC (Oct. 8, 2008)