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Students at Mountain View Preparatory School blocked from competing in athletics

 

SPARTANBURG COUNTY—Mountain View Preparatory School in Spartanburg has opened a lawsuit against multiple Spartanburg school districts, including Spartanburg One which serves Landrum, Campobello and Inman, after claiming that the prep school’s seventh and eighth graders have been blocked from competing in athletics. The school is also suing the Foothills Athletic Conference.

The prep schools principal, Mark Talley, says that the vote to not allow Mountain View Preparatory School into the conference passed unanimously between the school districts and an appeal was not accepted.

Talley claims that dozens of students have dropped out of the school over the issue, and that families are dealing with frustration as they are being forced to choose between a good academic fit with restricted sports opportunities or a school with great athletics that may not be a good fit overall.

Although Mountain View Preparatory school offers a career and technical education pathway, they do offer a focus on career paths geared toward sports and sports entertainment.

“We are a public charter school that has a sports focused curriculum,” says Talley “ I think the perception of our school and who we actually are is a little different.”

The school is projected to lose more than $600,000 over the next six years due to the decision of not allowing middle school-aged students compete in athletic programs. 

The leaders at Mountain View Preparatory say they will continue to work as hard as they can to make sure their students succeed both athletically and academically.

Mountain View Preparatory School is located at 895 Springfield Rd. in Spartanburg.