Superintendent gives thumbs down to Lower Merion, Harriton football merger
During Lower Merion School District’s Nov. 17 meeting, Superintendent Dr. Frank Ranelli said he “cannot recommend” merging the football teams of Lower Merion and Harriton high schools — a stance that a parade of parents and students then panned during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“To say I am unhappy and a little shocked with the decision is an understatement,” said Wynnewood resident Michelle Miller, whose son is a sophomore at Lower Merion High School. Echoing other public comments, Miller particularly took umbrage with Ranelli’s assertion that the need to merge was “more of a Harriton problem” since that team has struggled the most.
Miller contended that anyone who has been to either team’s games can “see that it’s a problem for both.” She added: “We are one school district, so I don’t know why we would pit one against the other – one school district that could basically only field two varsity teams this year.”
Parents in the school district have been pushing for months to combine the Harriton and Lower Merion football programs, which both have struggled with low participation that has prevented the schools from fielding freshman and junior varsity teams. The two teams are also greatly overmatched against opponents: Harriton has lost every game in the Central League for the last 10 years and Lower Merion went 1-8 in the league last year (although in other years, like 2023-24, the Aces went 6-4).
Two months ago, parents in the district started a change.org petition in support of the football merger, and since then they have gained at least 325 signatures. “We need the district to act now to unify the programs and protect player safety,” the petition states.
It is not clear whether the Lower Merion school board will vote on the issue or whether Ranelli’s recommendation will be final. Amy Buckmann, the district’s director of school and community relations, would say only that it is up to the school board to decide if it will vote on the issue, “and I can’t predict future actions by the school board.”
Parents who spoke at the latest school board meeting expressed frustration with the board’s failure to vote on the football merger.
“I’d love for you guys to vote tonight, because I want it on record — who supports it and who doesn’t?” said Narberth resident Chris McLeod.
Ranelli cites tradition, school pride
In his comments at the start of the meeting, Ranelli said he made his decision after reviewing the results of a survey sent to students and parents, which “indicated a split in the pros and cons of merging the two teams.” Players from both teams, however, showed a “strong preference for each school to maintain their own football program.” He said he also received “anecdotal information” that the merger proposal was not well-received by alumni due to factors like tradition and high school pride.
Further, Ranelli asserted that after “looking at the statistics and the data, this is more of a Harriton problem than an LM problem.”
“I don’t feel it’s LM’s responsibility to give up their team identity, and playoff chances to merge with Harriton. Lower Merion High School would be giving up a great deal for a problem that they do not need to solve.”
But parents and students who took the microphone during the public comment portion of the evening challenged almost all of Ranelli’s arguments.
Rahul Mistry, whose son is a football player at Harriton, said two key survey questions were “misleading” because they asked if Lower Merion should keep its football team and if Harriton should keep its football team. “That was interpreted [as], ‘should they have tackle football here?’” contended Mistry, who said he represents the parents and boosters from both high schools.
Mistry and other commenters also argued that their support of the football merger is chiefly drive by concern with players’ wellbeing — not the teams’ competitiveness.
Said Narberth resident Lisa Gambino, whose son attends Harriton: “It would be great to win…but I really worry about [the players’] safety. Because of the lack of a junior varsity team, her son has had to play varsity as both a freshman and sophomore against powerful teams like Strath Haven, she noted. “Every game, I worry that something’s going to happen.”
Tommy Burke, who said he played football for the past four years at Lower Merion, pointed out that the small team sizes meant players often had to play nearly the entire game. He said that “makes us less competitive because we don’t have as many kids [available] to give ourselves 30 seconds on the sideline to catch our breath.”
And echoing Gambino’s concern, he said asking young players to compete at the varsity level is unsafe and robs them of the ability to hone their game. “You’re shorting them of development as players and as young men, and a lot of them quit because of it,” Burke said.
