Colfax school board approves changes in athletic code regarding disputes

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  The Colfax Board of Education has approved changes to the athletic code so an athlete, the athlete’s parent or the athlete’s coach can appeal an athletic suspension by requesting a meeting with the athletic director.

More people are “not taking no for an answer” regarding playing time and violations of the athletic code, and they want to appeal decisions, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, at the Colfax Board of Education’s July 16 meeting.

Under the previous athletic code, the appeal could reach all the way to the Board of Education. Under the athletic code approved July 16, the appeal goes to the athletic director, the athletic council, and if further appealed, to the high school principal, and then the process stops there, Yingst said.

Michael Hodel is the school district’s new athletic director this year, he noted.

According to the new section of athletic code, if an athlete appeals a suspension, the student is ineligible during the appeal process.

The athletic code goes on to say if the parents or the athlete are not satisfied with the athletic director’s decision, they can request a hearing, in writing, to the athletic director, before the school district’s athletic council.

The request for a hearing must be made within five days after the athletic director’s decision.

The athletic director must summarize all information related to the violation in writing and give it to the parents and to the athlete within five days of the appeal request. The date, time and place of the athletic council hearing will be included.

Athletic council

The athletic council is chaired by the high school athletic director, and the council will rule on alleged violations of the rules and regulations.

The athletic council will be selected by the high school principal or a designee of the school superintendent.

Membership on the athletic council will include the athletic director (chair), three out-of-season on-staff head coaches or assistant coaches, and two non-athletic activities advisors.

Members of the athletic council will each have one vote, and the athletic director will not be a voting member.

A quorum of the athletic council will be three members, and if there is no quorum, the meeting will be rescheduled.

At the hearing before the athletic council will be the athletic director, the members of the council, the athlete, the parents of the athlete, and any other people who may be directly involved. The athlete may also have representation at the hearing, if desired.

The decision by the athletic council will given, in writing, to the athlete and the parents within five days after the hearing.

If the athlete and/or parents are not satisfied with the findings of the athletic council, they can request, in writing to the athletic director, a hearing before the high school principal.

Principal

At the next hearing to appeal the athletic suspension will be the high school principal, the athletic director, the athlete and any other directly involved people.

The decision of the high school principal will be the final decision in the ruling on the alleged violation of the athlete.

The new section of the athletic code is in line with other school districts, Yingst said.

If someone is still upset with the decision after following the proposed changes to the athletic code, another layer could be added to the appeals process to bring it to the school board, he said.

“If we have four steps, we’re in good shape,” said Todd Kragness, school board president.

Yingst also noted instead of multiple forms to sign for the athletic code, there will be one form.

The Colfax Board of Education unanimously approved the changes to the athletic code.

The following penalties apply to violations of the athletic code:

• First offense — the athlete will be suspended from the team for a minimum of 25 percent of the total scheduled contests in the sport and will carry over to the next sport.

• Second offense — within one year of any previous suspension, the athlete will be suspended for the equivalent of one sport season. For example, if an athlete is suspended with 40 percent of the season remaining, then the athlete shall remain suspended for 60 percent of the next season in which the athlete participates.

• Third offense — within two years of any previous suspension, the athlete will be suspended for one year.

• AODA assessment — the athletic director can reduce a penalty by up to 50 percent if the athlete seeks Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse assessment from a community agency and follows all of the recommendations from the assessment.

Athletic fees

The Colfax Board of Education also approved increasing four different athletic fees .

The fees have stayed the same for a long time, and the fee increases are nominal, Yingst noted.

The new fees are “break even” costs, he said.

The fee increases approved by the school board are baseball caps increasing from $15 to $16; football jerseys increasing from $18 to $20; softball socks for $4, which is a new item for softball players; and no socks for volleyball players, which is a decrease of $8 for the volleyball fees.

Other business

In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:

• Learned warranty work on flooring was being completed for flooring that had been installed during the projects funded by the referendum.

• Learned state aid for Colfax is expected to increase by 2.75 percent, from $5,365,515 for last year to $5,513,318 for this year, representing an increase of $147,803.

• Learned the state patrol inspector had visited the school district earlier in the day to complete the Department of Transportation bus inspection and that the inspection had gone well. Having new buses helps with the inspections; the older buses always have more problems, Yingst said, noting the school district has nine new or nearly new school buses.

• Accepted the resignation of Charlie Owen as a bus driver for the school district. According to Owen’s letter of resignation, he has been a bus driver for Colfax for 16 years and said he was resigning “due to health issues.”

• Approved a motion to hire Edward Stuart and Kim McEldowney as bus drivers for the district. The approval was contingent upon Stuart and McEldowney passing their physicals and obtaining licenses. McEldowney is already full licensed, has taken the Chippewa Valley Technical College course and is certified in air brakes, Yingst said.

• Approved the school district’s academic standards that will be in effect for the 2018-2019 school year pursuant to section 120.12(13) and section 118.30(1g)(a)1 of the Wisconsin statutes.

• Approved The Standard as the school district’s long-term and short-term disability insurance carrier for the 2018-2019 school year.