Hillsborough Dancers Urge Support For Team Nationals Trip To Florida

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough High School's dance team drew strong public support at a recent school board meeting, where a coach, students, parents and residents urged backing for the team's overnight trip to nationals in Florida.

The discussion about overnight trips was previously raised at the Oct. 12 Board of Education meeting.

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This prompted the dance team to speak at the Oct. 26 meeting defending their trips.

Kristin Comune, head coach of the high school dance team, said the trip is "not simply a trip to Florida" and called it "the culmination of months of hard work for our student athletes."

Comune said the team fundraises throughout the year and does not ask families to cover the full cost on their own.

"This is not a Disney trip. It's a national competition," she said.

Comune also addressed concerns about missed class time, saying, "Last year, our dance team attended nationals and our JV team placed third in the nation."

She said the dancers "maintained an average GPA of 94.932 while preparing for and participating in this demanding season."

She added that the students "are not choosing dance instead of academics" and are learning "how to successfully manage both."

A sophomore at Hillsborough High School this is her second year being a part of the dance team.

"The amount of hard work and dedication each of us has put into the team really does reflect throughout our season," said the student.

She added that the team does not "get enough funding to support our team. So, we do fundraisers and host events so that we can make enough money to support our team."

Dancers practice seven hours during the school week, with more time on some weekends, and the student said, "We pay for everything."

A high school senior said team costs and fundraising are reviewed before and after tryouts with students and parents.

She said dancers notify teachers in advance when they will miss school and bring work along to stay on track. She said the national competition in Orlando is a set date shared at the start of the season.

Several parents said the trip builds connection, discipline and independence.

Nancy Cika, who said she was speaking as both a dance parent and an educator, told the board that " For more than 20 years, I've worked with children and adolescence as a school psychologist and school administrator. Unfortunately, I've sat across from many young people during some of their hardest moments. And one thing I have seen far too often is a young person who doesn't feel connected, who doesn't feel like they belong or have a place where they truly are known and valued."

She pointed to research that "supports school connectedness and a sense of belonging as important protective factors for adolescent mental health."

Another parent expressed her frustration regarding the recent discussion surrounding the dance team's overnight national competition.

"Much of the conversation centered on the financial burden of these opportunities. However, this discussion overlooked an important fact. These opportunities are made possible because our families work to fundraise throughout the year," said the parent.

She noted that the competitions and opportunities are not simply paid for by parents writing checks.

"They are earned through countless hours of planning events, volunteering, securing sponsors, and selling fundraising items. Our dancers learn that meaningful opportunities require commitment, hard work, and perseverance. They actively participate in fundraising and experience firsthand the value of setting a goal, working together, and earning the resources needed to achieve it," said the parent. "It is demeaning to hear this referred to as the Disney trip."

During the board discussion, Board President Joel Davis asked how trip funds are handled.

Business Administrator Gerald Eckert said the money is generally not district funding and may go through a student activity account or be paid directly by a booster club.

Superintendent Michael Volpe said concerns were not about the district paying for trips, but whether some families could afford student costs.

"I don't know if the board's concerns about field trips were ever about the board needing to put forth money. I just want to make that clear to the public and clarify," said Volpe. "I think there were concerns from board members that people still had to pay certain amounts... The concern was that was it too high for people to have to pay?"

"Where there may be some families for which that would be out of reach that kind of a thought. But the dance group, as they have justified they raised the funds in order to undertake the trip," said Davis.

Davis also questioned why the dance club is not considered a school team.

Volpe, who noted he is a dance dad whose daughter competed in the past, said, "The simple reason why it is a club versus a team has nothing to do with athletics because I could not do what any of you do out here."

He said the reasoning has to do with the NJSIAA's recognition of the dance club.

"What we have decided as a board in the past was that we were only recognizing sports that were recognized by the NJSIAA," said Volpe.

He added that it can be a "slippery slope" if the district starts recognizing certain clubs in terms of "where do you draw the line?"

If the NJSIAA recognizes dance as an official sport, then "Hillsborough would have no problem" recognizing the team as well.

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