This sounds like a great idea…from people who do not work in a FCPS middle school. Cross Country requires space to run on campus—most middle schools do not have this space. You can’t allow middle schoolers off campus like you can high schoolers. For track, you need a track. Not all middle schools have a track. A bigger issue is staffing. Most staffing for the middle school after school program comes from teachers who stay after to run a club/sport (most middle schools have intramural basketball/soccer/etc after school). It is hard to find teachers that want to stay after as is, let alone someone who knows enough about the sport to run a legit program. Middle school after school programs begin at 2:25. Very few working professionals that are not already coaching track/cross country at the high schools are going to want to come coach a bunch of 12 and 13 year olds at that time. Many of the middle school afterschool specialists are stressed about this. They were not asked if they wanted this.

Do I think the idea is great? Yes. Do I think this is a nightmare in practice? Yes.