The New London administration banned students from home athletic contests last year, unless accompanied by their own parents. This past fall, home Friday night football games were moved to Saturday mornings. Now, all students are required to pay to attend home sporting events which, at minimum, athletes used to attend for free. Why is New London leadership working to keep students from supporting each other?

I have spoken to the administration and asked them to reconsider this policy. Their response: “This is common practice and if students can’t pay, they should tell the AD.” Really? We are a district where all students get free breakfast/lunch due to the poverty level: It should be assumed that most cannot pay. In fact, the requirements of the free/reduced lunch program specifically prohibit overt identification. Requiring a student to beg for free admission because he/she does not have money is revolting.

Watching the wrestling team, after a two plus hour practice, peeking through the four-inch windows of the gymnasium doors to catch a glimpse of the basketball game is pitiful, but worse, New London administration doing nothing about it, from inside the gym, with their own (and staff) free admission. Can someone make sense of this for me?

Holly McCalla

New London