Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Eight months ahead of the new school year, Yelm Community Schools (YCS) and Superintendent Chris Woods have committed to providing high school athletics during the 2026-27 school year — with some caveats.
During the YCS Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22, Woods stated that YCS will only offer high school varsity and junior varsity athletics during the 2026-27 school year. Additionally, middle school sports will be cut and transportation to and from games will remain absent.
“We know any offering of athletics takes some sort of compromise as far as financially, because we don’t get funding from the state for athletics,” Woods said. “That’s one of those areas that’s entirely funded by levy dollars. We also know the importance of having some sort of opportunity for students. We know if we cut everything, completely, that it would be years and years before anything comes back.”
Woods also thanked Phil Perry and his leadership team of coaches for working alongside himself, Dee Dee Buckingham, and board members Ryan Jewell and Casey Shaw.
“I think we’ve had some very productive meetings and good conversations,” Woods said. “All of us have a goal in mind of how we maintain athletics in some way so that kids have opportunities but still, financially, are able to do that.”
Woods said there’s been an emphasized effort to have meetings with Yelm coaches to find ways to save money and conduct athletics more efficiently.
“We’re hopeful that we can continue to work with our community to find some ways to support middle school athletics,” Woods said. “The nice thing is that we will have facilities available for them, for our community groups, if they choose to help provide some opportunities.”
He added that the decision surrounding athletics was not made lightly, and that every board member had strong feelings regarding the decision.
“There’s still challenges in how we arrive here, but there’s a commitment because there’s a desire,” Jewell said during the meeting. “Our community has expressed how important this is to us, and many of the board members and staff that we’ve interacted with, there’s countless times and examples of sports being the turning point in students’ lives and keeping them involved and engaged in school.”
Jewell added that the topic of athletics in YCS is extremely important to both the community and to the district. He knows there’s a need for constant effort in working with the local community to obtain high school sports next school year.
“I can only hope that as we commit to continuing to provide these programs, that our community is going to help because it’s a big ask. There’s still a cost involved. It’s not free to play,” Jewell said. “We’ve had some really good conversations with coaches and the community and I think we’re going to find the path.”
Jewell added that he “doesn’t 100% know how this will be achieved,” other than it being a commitment that YCS wants to make happen. He also called on attendees of the meeting to spread the word about the district’s desire for sports next school year.
“The rumor mills are definitely something we’re going to need the community to get behind,” Jewell said. “The amount of times I’ve heard people say ‘we’re not having sports and kids are encouraged to transfer out’ — I’ve not heard that communicated at this table or any of the meetings I’ve been in, but I’m hearing it from the community. I would ask y’all, now more than ever, to help us get the message out into the open.”
Board member Frank King believes this is the “best case scenario” for YCS and athletics. Like Jewell, he’s unsure of how the district will realistically provide varsity and junior varsity high school athletics next school year — but reaffirmed his desire and the district’s interest in making it happen.
“I would hate to just cut high school athletics completely,” King said. “I don’t think it would be fair to those kids who’ve worked the last 10-plus years to compete at that level and have to look for another school to play for. They want to play in this community, but like Ryan said, it takes a community to support those kids. It’s a lot of work.”
Board member Denise Hendrickson, the longest tenured member on the YCS Board of Directors, said anytime she and the board can support a program that helps keep students engaged and attending school — she’ll do it.
“When you have an adult come and talk to you and say ‘you know, when I was in school the reason that I stayed in high school was because I had the opportunity to play sports.’ It wasn’t maybe necessarily that they were the best athlete, but it was because they had an opportunity and a purpose and a reason to keep them coming to school,” Hendrickson said. “I think if that’s an opportunity that we give our kids, and that’s their hook and reason they come to school, if we can provide that — we need to do that. It’s the same thing for our CTE programs, and music and art. We’ve had to cut so many things. If we can keep these things, these hooks for our kids in high school, I’m like, please, let’s try to find these hooks so they can stay in school.”
Bill Hauss, the second longest tenured school board member, knows first hand how high school athletics can transform a student’s life. His grandson, Chris Hauss, recently completed his freshman season as a student-athlete at Central Washington University — where he competes as a defensive lineman on the Wildcats’ football team.
“I agree with everybody and everything that everyone has said so far. We’ve got so many good programs going on here in the district,” Hauss said. “I know my grandson, playing football, that meant everything to that boy. He probably wouldn’t be in college today if it wasn’t for football.”
According to Woods, under “normal” circumstances, athletics would cost roughly $1.4 million for operations spanning from sixth to 12th grade. He admitted that cost is “not sustainable” without levy dollars coming in.
“So for us, to narrow it down to what can we do and how can we find a way, and we’ll continue our meetings with coaches to find ways to be more efficient and make sure our high schoolers have these opportunities,” Woods said. “The hope would be in the future that we can pass a levy and bring these extracurricular activities back for our students.”
