Trustees Table Coaching Decisions
After receiving the recommendations for extra-curricular activities, Wolf Point’s trustees decided to table many of their coaching hiring choices during their monthly meeting on Monday, May 10.
Trustee Linda Hansen noted she had concerns about the newspaper advertising for the coaching positions. She said the help wanted ad should list each position instead of just the more general high school and junior high coaches wanted announcement.
Hansen encouraged the board to table the decisions.
Trustee Mark Zilkoski later made the motion to approve part of the recommendation list. The selections to be re-hired under the proposal included speech/drama coach, concessions, high school student council, junior high student council, accompanist, adult education coordinator, band and choir extra, high school pep band, madrigal, high school drama production, FFA, National Honor Society, Indian Club, junior club advisor and transportation director. The motion was seconded by trustee Corey Reum.
Not included in the recommendation were the positions of high school boys’ basketball coaches, cheer coach, junior high volleyball, junior high girls’ basketball, high school tennis, girls’ basketball coaches, wrestling and high school track.
Audience members expressed their disagreement with the board’s feelings.
“This is going to hurt our kids,” activities director Cody Larson said. “This is bad. We are taking huge, huge, huge steps back.”
Wolf Point High School principal Kim Hanks added, “This seems to be an issue every year in May. I want to know why we can’t fix this. This is bad for kids.”
Audience members mentioned that waiting to select coaches might have an impact of students attending sports camps during the summer.
Hanks noted that it takes only 30 seconds for trustees to approve the hiring of new teachers, “but when it comes to hiring a boys’ basketball coach or tennis coach, we have all kinds of problems.”
Speech/drama coach Wendy Connelly expressed her frustration that she was the only coach that trustees were willing to hire at the meeting. She doesn’t understand why other teachers who are coaches weren’t also being re-hired right away.
“I guess if you’re going to split us up, put me on the other list,” Connelly said of the group not being re-hired.
Trustees voted by a 4-1 motion to hire the partial list included in the motion. Voting against the motion were chair Mark Kurokawa and Hansen.
The decision to approve the rest of the recommendations was tabled until Monday, May 24. The school will run a different ad in today’s newspaper for people interested in coaching positions.
Trustee Lanette Clark said she wants it properly advertised so everybody has a fair chance of being interviewed.
Reum added that people get upset about not being interviewed.
“We do care about our coaches, but we have problems we need to solve too.”
Trustees did approve the recommendation to allow Hanks to serve as head volleyball coach despite being an administrator. Reum said his only requirement is that an administrator is in the building when Hanks is away coaching.
Early in the meeting, acting superintendent Jim Baldwin discussed a school district that formed a sports committee. At the end of each season, the committee met and made recommendations about that sport. He said that might be an option to consider as many school districts have a challenge with extra- curricular decisions each May.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, teacher representative Patricia Toavs said the school district will not qualify for new state funds available to recruit teachers unless the scale of pay for new teachers is increased. Baldwin said school officials will look into the matter.
Toavs asked trustees for funds to help teachers as they continue to recover from COVID challenges. She said impacts have included hair loss, memory loss and high blood pressure.
“Teachers are still struggling with the after affects of COVID,” she said.
Sarah Chambers, acting principal at Southside School, said testing shows that third graders are 13 percent proficient in math and reading/ language arts.
She mentioned summer planning will take place regarding how to improve in all areas. She added fourth graders have scored the best and credited a strong fourthgrade teaching staff. She noted teacher turnover is a challenge.
Chambers has held two curriculum fireside chats with staff members and the meetings have been productive.
The school district is continuing to advertise for a principal at Southside.
In the organizational meeting, Hansen was selected the new board chair and Clark was voted vice chair.
