CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board delayed a decision on the middle school wrestling proposal this week as county commissioners warned the board that their budget is not a “bottomless pit.”
The proposal, put forward by board member Aron Maberry, would amend the current school year budget to begin allocating funds to create boys and girls wrestling programs that would begin in the 2026-27 school year. But concerns over costs, staffing and space left many board members hesitant to approve the proposal without a clearer picture of the program’s implementation.
“I don’t want to make a decision tonight that forces us to go down a path that forces us to get it done,” said board member Chris Lanier. “You just can’t throw something at a wall and hope it sticks.”
40 years of middle school basketball
“We did a little bit of a history on middle school athletics (in CMCSS),” Anthony Johnson, chief communications officer, told the board during his presentation. “In the 1980s, CMCSS moved from a junior high model to middle school model.”
For 40 years, Johnson said, the only middle school athletics offering was basketball. In 2017, a change in leadership led to a drive to increase offerings at the middle school level. Basketball, volleyball, football, cheerleading and cross country are now offered in middle schools.
Ultimately, the school district offered two recommendations:
1. Continue planning in 2026-27 and future budgets: Many middle schools have athletics programs that share facilities. Wrestling is a winter sport that begins around the last week of September, overlapping with all of the current offerings. In this recommendation, the district also wants to resolve issues with the already established sports, including facility needs and expansion, financial needs, and competitive pay for coaches.
2. Alternative: If the board decides to draw from the current school year budget (2025-26) for the wrestling program, the district “strongly” recommends funding only equipment and facilities, a cost of about $260,000 for the eight middle schools. In this recommendation, the program would be implemented in the 2026-27 school year.
Wrestling in the cafeteria?
During the discussion, board members Jimmy Garland and Lanier raised two concerns: where wrestling equipment such as mats would be stored, and facilities for the student wrestlers to practice.
John Miller, district programs and activities coordinator, explained that there would be challenges with storage, like with middle school football. Storage facilities had to be bought for the schools for football equipment in the off season, and it’s an obstacle the district is still facing.
“During season, possibly pre-season, (wrestling mats) could be stored in the schools, but I’m not sure where in the middle schools we could do that,” Miller told the board. “Possibly the auxiliary gyms, but I don’t believe all of the schools have auxiliary gyms. Possibly the cafeteria, but then you’re looking at them getting damaged.”
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Norm Brumblay, chief operations officer, said only three of the eight middle schools have auxiliary gyms, and four “have spaces that are called auxiliary, but are actually just glorified classrooms,” leaving one school without an auxiliary gym or an area like one.
Lanier seemed to contemplate Miller’s suggestions with a perplexed look before asking, “You talked about storing the mats in the cafeteria. Is a cafeteria really an OK place for (students) to be practicing?”
Miller responded that “it could be” based off his experience kickstarting wrestling at Clarksville Academy, where the team would practice in the cafeteria. Maberry also recalled, in his school days, wrestling in the cafeterias at Clarksville High and Rossview High.
Vote on middle school wrestling tabled for month
“I’m not ready to put my vote to something that’s not ready,” Board Member Carol Berry said. “I think staff would be frustrated, students would be frustrated. … We cannot just throw anything at the students. We have to have a program that is organized, staffed and ready to roll.”
Many board members shared the same concerns, saying they wanted more information on how this would be implemented, and with a structured plan in place.
Maberry agreed to table his proposal until next month.
‘We are not a bottomless pit’
As the meeting drew to a close after nearly two hours of discussion, the board turned to the County Commission School Liaison Comittee for comments.
“I think wrestling is great,” said County Commissioner David Harper. “But let’s not add one sport at the detriment of others.”
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The Montgomery County Commission is the funding body for CMCSS and has the final vote on the School Board’s proposed budgets. While an initial $260,000 would come from this year’s budget under Maberry’s proposal, the full cost of the proposal is not yet known, and some costs would be ongoing.
County Commissioner Jeremiah Walker pointed out that wrestling wasn’t in this year’s budget. “Why don’t we just wait until next year? The reason I say that, is if you (the district) did not get one penny more other than cost-of-living wages for teachers, bus drivers, administrators … what are you willing to cut to fund this?
“At the end of the day, we (the County Commission) are going to have to go back to the citizens of Montgomery County and raise their taxes,” Walker said. “That’s not going to be an easy sell for us. Please keep that in mind when you start asking for this money on top of money. We are not a bottomless pit. We answer to our constituents.”
Maberry later told Clarksville Now that no new funds would be needed from the County Commission for the proposal.
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