Lone Tree and Highland School Districts to Discuss Athletics Cooperative Agreement

The two school boards will meet to explore potential collaboration on fall sports programs.

Mar. 18, 2026 at 4:20pm

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The Lone Tree Community School District and Highland Community School District are set to hold a joint school board workshop to discuss collaborating on athletics, particularly focusing on fall sports. The meeting is open to the public and will take place on March 18th at 5 p.m. at Highland High School.

Why it matters

With both districts facing challenges fielding varsity football teams last season, this potential athletics cooperative agreement could help ensure students at both schools have access to a full slate of sports programs and extracurricular activities.

The details

According to Lone Tree Superintendent Tyler Hotz, the two districts have already held preliminary committee meetings to discuss sharing athletics. The upcoming joint board meeting will allow the full school boards to have an open conversation about potentially formalizing a cooperative agreement, with the focus mainly on fall sports.

  • The meeting is scheduled for March 18th, 2026 at 5 p.m.
  • Last fall, Highland's football season ended after just two games, and Lone Tree did not field a varsity football team.

The players

Lone Tree Community School District

A school district located in Lone Tree, Ohio.

Highland Community School District

A school district located in Highland, Ohio.

Tyler Hotz

The superintendent of the Lone Tree Community School District.

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What they’re saying

“Lone Tree and Highland, we've had a couple of committee meetings where two board members, myself and our ADs (activities directors) got together and talked about sharing athletics in general. So this is a joint open board meeting instead of a committee meeting. So it's to have the boards together, to have the conversation of potentially sharing athletics. The focus will mainly be the fall sports.”

— Tyler Hotz, Superintendent, Lone Tree Community School District

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

This potential athletics cooperative agreement between Lone Tree and Highland school districts highlights the challenges rural school systems face in maintaining robust extracurricular programs, and the need for creative solutions to ensure students have access to a full range of sports and activities.