Athletic cooperative met in Odessa

The Boards of Directors of Odessa School District #105 and Harrington School District #204 met in the Odessa High School library Wednesday, January 13, 2016, at 7 p.m. for a joint sports cooperative board meeting. Representing Odessa were superintendent Dan Read, principal Jamie Nelson, board chair Ed Deife and board members Heather Valverde, Chris Crossley and Janie Steward. Representing Harrington were superintendent/principal Justin Bradford, board chair Darren Mattozzi and board members Mark Kramer, Alan Tanke and Linda Mielke. Also present were O-H athletic director Bruce Todd, Justin Parr, Leland and Delani Smith, Carmen Weishaar, Travis Wagner, Juli Weishaar and Terrie Schmidt-Crosby.

Staff/public input

Travis Wagner asked for clarification on the rules for eighth-graders playing up on high school basketball teams. Athletic director Bruce Todd explained that rules established by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association limit athletes to 80 quarters of total play between junior high and high school games, that nine players constitute a varsity squad and that high school players take precedence over eighth-graders in making up the squad. Playing on AAU teams does not count towards the 80-quarter limit.

Athletic director’s report

Bruce Todd provided a comprehensive report on the Odessa-Harrington athletic cooperative. The report reviewed both fall and winter sports, provided a budget update and included a spring sports survey.

Co-op athletic drug

and tobacco policy

Read reported that both school districts currently have policies in place regarding electronic smoking/vapor devices. He will work with Bradford, along with a committee and administrative staff, on a co-op athletic drug and tobacco policy to be presented at the next regular co-op meeting to be held in March.

Athletic director

evaluation process/tool

Read presented an evaluation form to be used as a tool to evaluate both the athletic director and the game supervisors. Following a short discussion, it was determined that Bradford and Nelson, in their capacity as principals, would evaluate the athletic director and that Bradford and Todd would evaluate the game supervisors.

The board members unanimously approved the evaluation process and tool.

Game supervisor role

Bradford reported on the work being done in Harrington by the game supervisors, Mike Cronrath and Lamar Larmer, to get the facilities ready for athletic events. He said both men have done a great job and put in many hours as the game supervisors. Bradford will meet with them after the basketball season to discuss the game supervisor model and review the hours expended to get the job done versus the compensation provided. Todd said both men have been a great help to him in getting the facilities prepared for athletic competitions.

Complaint procedure

Read presented minor revisions made to the complaint procedure developed at the last co-op meeting. It was unanimously approved by the joint boards.

Next meeting

The date of the next regular athletic co-op meeting was set for Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 7 p.m. in Harrington.

Personnel

The boards voted to accept Maria Schuh’s resignation as high school assistant track coach.

Co-op athletic

policy/procedure

Read and Bradford agreed that updating the procedure portion of the co-op athletic policy will require committee input. A meeting has been set for February 10 to work on the policy/procedure. A draft will be sent to board members before the March meeting when it will be presented for approval.

Transportation for

non-school day practices

Facilities/transportation supervisor Justin Parr shared his concerns with the board about bus drivers being expected to drive athletes to practices on holidays. In instances where drivers have holiday plans and are not available to drive, Parr himself has driven the sports shuttle. He reported that costs are higher when holiday pay is factored in. There was a discussion regarding practices on holidays versus practices during Christmas break. It was decided the committee working on the co-op athletic policy/procedure would address the problem, and come up with possible solutions to be presented at the March meeting.

Practice end times

Bradford said coaches need to be mindful of practice end times, (6 p.m.), as parents are waiting to pick up their student athletes at the other end.

Spring sports survey

The spring sports survey, shared by Bruce Todd during the athletic director’s report, indicated that enough athletes had signed up to offer baseball, softball, golf, tennis and track programs in the spring.

Softball

As reported above, there are enough girls signed up to offer softball in the spring. The board instructed the athletic director to meet with the girls in both schools to confirm their interest in playing softball. If the numbers are firm, Todd will post both the head softball coach and assistant softball coach positions.