Contention over coaches dominates Arlee school board meeting

(Fall '07) ARLEE — The agenda seemed simple enough: approve expenditures and tie up a few loose ends from the previous year, accept this year’s slate of volunteers and school bus drivers, and approve two coaches for the girls’ high school volleyball team. But as with a river calm on the surface, a current lay underneath.
Two main issues about coaching became the hot buttons during the September Arlee school board meeting
At first, business clipped pleasantly along.
Sirius construction was approved to begin planning a new school building, modifying initial designs to properly fit the $4.2 million budget. (The budget is approximately $1.7 million short of what is needed to continue with previous plans.)
Greg Nemoff of Sirius stated “I think it’s doable (but) we’ll have to drop some size.”
“Aesthetically, it may not be as beautiful,” added trustee Becky Clizbe, “but we need function.”
The contractor agreed to use local suppliers when possible, reducing transportation costs.
“We’re happy to work with local people,” Nemoff stated.
The board also requested monthly progress reports form Sirius, which Nemoff said would keep the company “motivated.”
Nemoff targeted spring as the start day to “dig the holes when it thaws,” but cautioned he doesn’t “want to start building with a half set of plans.”
School superintendent John Jay Miller talked with a grant writer at Senator Tester’s office to try to get the additional $1.7 million to complete the school building. He also sent letters to Congressman Rehberg and Senator Baucus.
Asking for the money “has worked in the state for several other reservation schools,” Miller said, and he “felt it’s about time they helped Arlee out.”
The motion to enter an engineering agreement with Sirius passed unanimously.
Then the coaching issues came along.
First was a modification to the Athletic coaches and advisors handbook, disallowing volunteer coaches to ride on busses with students unless they have current CPR and first aid training.
The issue is one of safety, board chair Ron Ritter said. What if the children are in an accident, he wondered. What if the coach, who often sits up front in the bus, and the driver were both injured? Both of those positions requite current CPR certification, but if both were unable to help the kids, what then?
Board member Hank Garde recalled a time when he was in just such a position, and was the only adult on the bus with up-to-date CPR training. All worked out well that time, he said, but he agreed the concern was valid.
The board wanted to assure those volunteers who traveled on busses with the teams, even for a day trips, had the necessary skills should an emergency arise.
The issue at hand had its basis in the different categories of volunteer positions available at the Arlee schools.
Interested parties can be approved as a volunteer, a volunteer coach, or a chaperone.
Each distinction requires different certifications.
Simple volunteers, typically alums who come to town and assist during spring break or holidays, are not required to be finger printed or background checked. They can only assist Arlee sports teams during home practices, where there is plenty of supervision and regular personnel.
Volunteer coaches, on the other hand, can help a team during practice or away games.
However, only approved chaperones can attend overnight functions with the teams.
The discrepancy between what was written in the handbook and what Ritter recalled as the intent of the passage led to some heated discussion.
After checking the electronic records of the previous meeting, clerk Lonnie Morin stated that, indeed, the concerns voiced by Ritter had been addressed, and the intent was clear: any volunteer coach traveling with the team, even for a day trip, needed first aid training. That matter settled, the board went on to approve this year’s volunteers and school bus drivers. Then came another coaching issue.
The girls high school volleyball team was applying to have two co-head coaches, at equal rates of pay, rather than the traditional head and assistant coach. Brian Bigcrane and Lonnie Morin, the applicants, stated this arrangement worked best for them and the team. Bigcrane mentioned his work schedule, which kept him from early practices, and Morin, who had initially applied for the assistant coach’s job, relayed her lack of experience as two reasons the team approach would suit them better. Plus, Morin remarked later, it would eliminate any perception that she was playing favorites, as her daughter is on the team.
Despite the cooperation between the two potential co-head coaches, trustees Becky Clizbe and Hank Garde refused to accept such an agreement, citing personal preferences for a split coaching team.
Garde thought there would be uncertainty if the applicants acted as co-coaches, rather than with distinct titles, and Clizbe insisted, “I’m a black and white sort of person. I don’t like things that are vague.”
“I asked the girls how they considered us,” Bigcrane replied. “They said we are co-head coaches.”
Clizbe replied she did not consider the girls old enough to have a say in the decision, and the vote failed on a two-two tie.
Bigcrane said “I just want to coach,” and offered to take the assistant coach’s position to settle the issue.
Garde then motioned for Morin to be acknowledged head coach, with Bigcrane as assistant coach, still splitting the pay equally. That motion also failed, and the two were finally accepted as coaches, Morin as head coach, and Bigcrane as assistant, at the established rates of pay.
After the meeting, new head coach Lonnie Morin remarked how generous it was for Bigcrane to concede, and exhorted one trustee to thank Bigcrane for his gesture. After all, Morin remarked, this shouldn’t be about any of them, but about the kids.
In other business, student numbers are slightly higher than last year, and a new system for loading students onto buses at the end of the day is going well. Maintenance supervisor Gregg Dougherty ordered all water sampling to be completed in September, and mentioned that the EPA had examined all the school buildings in August and will write up a report detailing district compliance with hazmat standards. All school buses passed inspection, as well.