Parkway Survey Shows Strong Opposition to Leaving MAC as Board Prepares to Decide Later This Week

Parkway Local Schools says community feedback continues to show strong opposition to a possible move from the Midwest Athletic Conference to the Northwest Conference, as the Board of Education prepares to make a decision later this week.

The district said 663 people responded to its recent Athletic Conference Affiliation survey. In addition, community members attending a recent town hall meeting were given the chance to provide another point of input through a paper ballot.

Superintendent Laura Young said the district saw a strong turnout for that meeting.

“We had a great attendance,” Young said. “We had over a hundred people at the town hall board of education meeting. We had 13 speakers and we had a paper ballot to give the board another data point and 122 people voted to stay in the MAC with no vote to move to the NWC.”

Young said the board will now weigh all of the information before making its decision.

“So the board will be taking all of that into consideration and they’ll be making a decision later this week,” Young said. “I was really just impressed with the passion and the amount of people who showed up.”

The online survey results also leaned heavily toward staying in the MAC. According to the district, 62.7 percent of respondents said they do not support the proposal to move from the MAC to the NWC. Another 30.9 percent said they do support the move, while about 6.4 percent were unsure.

The survey drew responses from parents, alumni, community members, students, athletes, coaches and staff. The largest groups represented were alumni at 52 percent, community members at 45.1 percent and parents at 38.3 percent.

When asked whether a move to the NWC would increase opportunities for conference championships and postseason honors, 53.2 percent said no, while 35.4 percent said yes and 11.3 percent were unsure.

On the question of whether a move would improve student participation in athletics, 60.6 percent said no. Another 28.1 percent said yes, while 11.3 percent said they were unsure.

Survey results also showed most respondents believe remaining in the current conference is the most sustainable path for Parkway athletics. In that question, 61.5 percent selected staying in the current conference, while 32.4 percent favored transitioning to a conference with similar sized schools.

Community members also pointed to tradition and travel as major concerns. In the survey’s check all that apply question on primary concerns regarding a possible move, loss of tradition was selected 395 times, or 59.6 percent, while travel was selected 279 times, or 42.1 percent.

Travel concerns were reflected elsewhere in the survey as well. A total of 50.5 percent of respondents said they are concerned about travel time to NWC schools such as Bluffton and Columbus Grove, compared with 43.1 percent who said they are not concerned.

The survey also found that 53.5 percent of respondents place a high value on the prestige associated with being a member of the MAC.

Parkway Local Schools thanked those who attended the town hall meeting and those who completed the survey, saying the feedback has given the Board of Education additional data to consider as it prepares to decide the future conference affiliation of Parkway athletics.