In a 6-1 vote on July 31, the board approved bringing back the program for the 2025-26 school year with ability to re-evaluate keeping the program for future years. Board President Monica Ryan was the lone dissenting vote.
How we got here
According to agenda documents, powerlifting has been offered at district high schools since 2021-22. A total of 87 students were part of the program in 2024-25.
Powerlifting is not a University Interscholastic League, or UIL, sanctioned sport according to agenda documents, with the programs at each high school funded via stipend. The total cost of programs at Veterans Memorial, Judson and Wagner High Schools is $42,493.
The initial elimination of the program was part of cost reductions approved by the board June 23, part of the 2025-26 fiscal year budget process.
What the board is saying
Trustee José Macias Jr. put the program reinstatement on the agenda, along with trustee Stephanie Jones, after receiving community feedback including direct email communication from several students.
“There’s some serious desire for this program, and we want our students motivated. I thought it was appropriate to bring this back and have it reinstated,” Macias said.
Other trustees said that the process to eliminate the program was rushed. Jones said her initial understanding was that powerlifting students also competed in UIL-sanctioned wrestling, which swung her initial vote to eliminate powerlifting.
“I would’ve never voted to remove this if I knew these students were only doing the powerlifting, at least effective immediately, because that’s not the case. Yes, we have to balance the budget, but it’s about doing things right because this is affecting students,” Jones said.
Explaining her dissenting vote, Ryan said that since powerlifting is not UIL sanctioned, it should be a club that a school chooses to offer based on the demand of students. She said any dollars not spent on the item could go toward academic advancement.
“If we made the decisions a year ago, people would’ve had a notice, but that is not the environment we’re in. This is the hand this board was dealt, that we’re having to make decisions in less time than we wish we would’ve,” Ryan said.
Next steps
With the program now reinstated for 2025-26, the approved motion will allow the district to re-evaluate the future of the program past 2025-26.
“Hopefully, it will be able to grow and be larger, and hopefully we don’t have to cut it in the following year,” Jones said.
