The soccer program at Greene County Schools “passed the audition” and will enter its second season with paid coaches following action taken at the Jan. 16 board of education meeting.
The program was inaugurated for the 2018 season with Carl Behne, Marilyn Tasler and Chad Black as volunteer coaches and parents and students raising a portion of the funds for the program.With the 2019 season approaching, school superintendent Tim Christensen proposed at the December meeting paying only two head coaches. The school board didn’t accept the proposal, but asked for more options.
At the Jan. 16 meeting, the board looked at three options presented by Christensen, and then suggested and approved a fourth option.
Coaches’ pay is calculated in units, with each unit being $568.83 under the current agreement. Christensen’s options all included $5,000 for transportation and $4,000 for officials’ pay, but varied in the number of coaches and the units paid to each position.
The first option called for a boys head coach and a girls head coach to be paid six units ($3,413) each, with a total cost of $15,826. The second option called for a boys head coach and a girls head coach to be paid eight units ($4,551) and one shared assistant coach to be paid four units ($2,275) with a total cost of $20,388. The third option called for two head coaches at eight units each and two assistant coaches at four units each for a total cost of $22,653.
Christensen had targeted $20,700 as available for soccer, with $2,700 of that gate receipts and the remainder being the increased revenue from the new athletic sharing agreement with Paton-Churdan.
It didn’t take board members long to suggest paying two head coaches six units each ($3,413) and two assistant coaches four units each ($2,275) for the same total cost. Tasler was at the meeting and was agreeable to the arrangement. The board approved the fourth option.
The board also lifted the responsibility of deciding which students should be granted waivers to the 1-mile rule for minor school permits. That question was also raised at the December meeting by Christensen. He said his policy was to deny all requests, but he asked for board input. Board president Mark Peters and board member John McConnell offered to bring a recommendation to the January meeting.
The board approved their recommendation. Going forward, students who live less than one mile from the school they attend and are involved in school-sanctioned activities that meet before or after school can apply to the board for a waiver. The board will decide waiver requests on a case-by-case basis, also considering practices in a building other than where the student attends class.
The board also approved an agreement to pay retiring technology coordinator Tim Buenz as a technology consultant employed by Tech Zone at a rate of $100 per hour after his retirement becomes effective.
The board approved a resolution allowing the district’s general fund to lend money to the capital projects fund on a short-term basis. Christensen explained that when the general obligation bonds were issued in late August, the proceeds were invested in certificates of deposit with laddered maturation dates. There are bills to be paid now, but the shortest-term CD isn’t yet available to cash in. The general fund will be “paid back” as the CDs can be redeemed.
The board had a brief discussion of the FFA chapter farming the southern portion of the property purchased for the new high school. The school purchased an 80-acre parcel, only half of which will be used soon for the school. The remaining land may be used for athletic fields sometime in the future.
Until then, Mike Bravard, who sold the land to the school, has offered to be part of a committee planning a farming project there for FFA members. He has also offered to donate some machinery costs. Board member Steve Fisher suggested soliciting donations of inputs, although the board’s goal is to provide “real world experiences” for students.
Christensen asked for board volunteers to work with Bravard; Fisher was the only one who agreed.
During administrators’ reports, elementary principal Scott Johnson said the Watch D.O.G.S. volunteer program was instituted in December and is going well. “It’s a treat thing we have going on,” he said as he shared comments of the men who had spent a day at the school. He also said the teachers are planning a Family Fun Night for Jan. 31 with a meal and games, and no technology allowed.
High School principal Brian Phillips reported on the blended learning model being piloted in three classes. Students work at their own pace using a combination of teacher and online instruction, and do not have to be in class if they’re completing assignments and meeting standards. He said blended learning offers an advantage to high-achieving students because they can determine how to use their time rather than having to be in the classroom.
Christensen gave the activity director’s report. The Heart of Iowa Activities Conference is recommending increasing student admission to athletic events from $3 to $5. The $5 adult admission cost would not change. Conference schools will vote on the increase next month.
