HPHS Cheerleading Squad Becomes Walk-On After Parent Complaints

EAST HANOVER, NJ — A change to the try-out process for the Hanover Park Regional High School's cheerleading squad has team members seething after tryout results were tossed and the team became a walk-on squad.

After several parents complained that their children were cut during the selection process, Hanover Park Regional High School changed the rules so that anyone who tries out for the team will get a spot next year.

Cheerleaders who say they earned their spot on the team spoke out against the change at the May 2 Board meeting, decrying it as unfair to them.

“I tried my hardest. Now everything is going away because of one child who did not make the team. And their parent complained so now all my hard work has been thrown out the window,” Stephan Krueger said, according to News 12 NJ.

Sophomore Jada Alcontara agreed, reportedly saying, “I came up here to state that I did not put in 18 months of work to lead up to this moment, just to be told it didn’t matter anymore."

According to a letter released by the Board of Education Monday night, the change was not made based solely on parent complaints, but was made because of an "irregularity in the selection process." Cheerleading try-outs at the school have typically been based on a rubric; students with a score of "87 or better" would earn a spot on the Black Squad, and those with a lower score would make the White Squad. This year, only six students met that score so "the score was arbitrarily lowered to a '78' thereby allowing for the addition of five cheerleaders" to field a full squad, the Board wrote.

After the school "received multiple appeals from several parents," Hanover Park administration decided that no student who scored below an 87 should be cut from the team. They said that decision was made in coordination with cheering advisors and that "this change would not create an undue burden on the program or their ability to properly supervise the students."

For the next school year, all freshman and sophomores will be on the White Squad, and all juniors and seniors will be on the Black Squad. It was not immediately clear if that change will be in place for future years, or is an exception made for the 2018-2019 school year.

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