EG Sharing Concerns Aired At Public Meeting

KEEPING SPORTS SEPARATE IS KEY ISSUE

A large group of concerned citizens met face to face with the East Greene Community School District board of directors at a public meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the high school gym in Grand Junction.

The meeting was scheduled after a group of 15 concerned parents and patrons showed up at the school board meeting two weeks before (Nov. 16) to voice their concerns about the pending whole grade sharing agreement (WGS) with Jefferson-Scranton. The sharing agreement is due to take effect on July 1, 2012, for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.

The agreement stipulates that all East Greene 7th through 12 graders (middle school and high school students) will attend classes in Jefferson for the two school years, but it was agreed upon signing the arrangement that the two districts would maintains separate middle school and high school sports programs.

However, a snafu has occurred in that plan as state high school athletic officials say only high schools can offer sports, and as of July 1 this summer, East Greene will not exist as a high school, due to the fact its high school and middle schools students will be attending all classes in the Jefferson-Scranton middle and high schools.

Superintendent Mike Harter told the board at its October regular meeting that he had just been appraised of this interpretation by the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IAHSAA), which oversees boys high school athletics, and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Association (IGHSAU), which sets policy and administers girls sports, but he assured them that this was just a minor setback and he had communicated with various individuals within both associations who told him East Greene could continue to offer sports next year even though its academic programs would be folded into Jefferson-Scranton.

Apparently, as word of “no sports at EG next year issue” percolated throughout the school district, along with concerns on why the school board had stopped publishing the proceedings of its regular and special meetings since summer, a group of concerned parents and taxpayers showed up in force at the meeting on Nov. 16, which usually draws about three visitors and offers visitors’ seating for about five. At issue, besides sports, was lack of communication from the board to the district, said some parents, and to others, a concern over the amount of miscommunication.

Harter appraised the situation at the Nov. 16 meeting for the concerned patrons, which included former board member Kevin Fouch, who completed a term on the board in September, having chosen not to run for re-election. Because of the number of questions and concerns, and an already full agenda, it was agreed by the board to schedule the special meeting two weeks later in the gym.

A crowd of about 75 interested parents and district patrons were at the Nov. 30 public meeting, where Harter again outlined the situation. Many of those present at the meeting are parents of students in middle and high school. Much of the discussion focused on the pros and cons of maintaining sports here while all the students in grades 7-12 will be attending classes in Jefferson.

Bruce Wessling of Grand Junction, who has a daughter in high school and one in middle school, pointed out that his seventh-grade daughter “is the only seventh grade girl out for basketball.” She is one of just six members of the EG junior high basketball team, which additionally consists of just five eighth graders. “What is the situation for next year when the 6th graders come up to play in junior high?” he asked the board. He indicated the sensible thing to do would be for East Greene students to participate with Jefferson-Scranton students, noting the low numbers for East Greene.

However, one issue with the East Greene enrollment is a disproportionate number of boys to girls in high school and middle school. While there just six girls on the junior high girls basketball team, there are more than 20 on the boys team—enough to divide into separate seventh and eighth grade teams with reserves to spare. The girls are at bare bones with just one reserve available at any game.

A similar situation exists at the high school level—there are enough boys to field varsity and junior varsity teams with reserves but only 10 girls available to play varsity and JV. The girls varsity is more along the lines of a JV team as there on no seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen. A similar situation occurred with girls softball during the summer, with just 10 girls total on a team with and nine positions to fill.

The parents of boys have a different outlook on the situation, and many expressed concern about not keeping our teams here and the diminished chances of their sons to play sports in a combined Jefferson-Scranton and East Greene athletic program. Others repeated a phrase often heard in the East Greene area “that they won’t play my kid in Jefferson because they will only play their kids.”

East Greene does have enough boys to continue with a separate program, but that opens up some difficult issues—several parents noted—of needing to combine girls sports with Jefferson, but then keeping boys only a as separate program which would result in a lack of cohesiveness in what is purported as a program about “sharing.” (This is a two-way sharing arrangement as Jefferson-Scranton will send all its 5th and 6th grade students to attend classes in the Grand Junction building the next two school years).

Dean Lansman, Jefferson-Scranton football coach and a familiar figure here as he grew up in Rippey and is an East Greene graduate, spoke on behalf of participation levels and said there is room for everyone in a combined program. Tim Christensen, Jefferson-Scranton, superintendent, was also in attendance and supported Lansman’s statements.

Also at issue is why this problem surfaced after the whole grade sharing agreement with Jefferson-Scranton was signed, but not before.

Harter told the crowd that he was given information from the State Department of Education last year that East Greene could continue to offers sports while in a whole grade sharing arrangement. “It’s the Department of Education who said we could do this,” he said, noting that the state athletic associations take the lead of the state DOE. When asked who specifically he got the information for sports approval from at the state DOE, Harter said it was Carol Greta, who is an attorney in the office of Jason Glass, DOE executive director.

Harter has said since the October school board meeting that East Greene will fill the requirements of being a high school “if we offer one class a day in the Grand Junction building taught by an East Greene teacher.” He and Christensen have been working to create such a class and work it into the daily schedule of East Greene high school students. “We will offer a class, which could be a reading class, either at the beginning of the school day or at the end.” The scheduling will be worked out with the overall daily schedule of high school classes in the Jefferson building, to accommodate the new East Greene-specific class at the Grand Junction building.”

The administration will most likely need to identify a teacher in the Grand Junction building who is certified to teach high school in addition to fifth and sixth grades.

Space and time would need to be created in the Grand Junction building for the approximately 80 East Greene high school students who will travel to Jefferson each day next to attend this special class. Harter did not indicate if the class needs to be offered a full class period like the other high school curriculum courses or if it could be an abbreviated period.