Who should play?: ‘Equal time’ could lead to top athletes ditching school teams, Highland coaches worry

July 28--"You're in." It's the words every athlete longs to hear.

But inevitably, in competitive sports, some players will hear it more than others. And that fact has caused many a rift in youth sports among players, coaches and parents.

The Highland School Board is currently examining the district's philosophy on the subject. The central question is: At what point should sports become competitive, with the best players seeing the most time on the court or field?

A newly proposed athletic philosophy for the district would focus on character development, on and off the field, though coaches say they already do that.

But what has many coaches and parents upset is the policy calling for "nearly equal" playing time in games at lower levels, despite skill level.

Parents and coaches alike turned out in force at Monday's Highland School Board meeting to speak against the potential policy change.

"I do have some concerns I'd like to bring before the board," said Highland High School Athletic Director Caleb Houchins. "I've talked to several coaches this past week, and our main concern is that some of the best players will choose not to play at sports at the school level. They'll still play, but at the select level and the club level."

Coaches in attendance at Monday's meeting said they believe the philosophy would be detrimental to Highland athletics. They stressed character is developed during practice, not just during a game.

"This is the fifth district I've taught in, and I've seen this before, and it doesn't lend any positive attributes at all," said Todd Strong, HHS JV boys basketball coach. "I don't know why we are talking about a policy about developing players during playing time. Playing time doesn't develop players, practice develops players."

Houchins also voiced concerns about implementing such a policy.

"If we do implement nearly equal playing time, which is my biggest concern, my question would be: Who monitors it?" Houchins said. "If it's not me, would it be the head coach? If not them, who would it be?"

Houchins said he also fears parents will choose not to send their students to Highland schools because their children aren't getting enough playing time and that the district would see a loss of coaches.

"Coaches want to be the decision makers when it comes to their program," Houchins said. "On some level, the coaches are going to feel micromanaged. And another question I have is: Would this policy carry over to other extracurricular activities, not just sports?"

Superintendent Mike Sutton said the potential policy is no where close to implementation process. The purpose having the idea as a discussion item at Monday's meeting was to open the floor to residents to express their concerns and opinions about it.

"The purpose of this meeting is to get input and to hear the concerns from the community about a proposed policy," Sutton said. "This policy is not being adopted. The policy isn't even on the agenda for first reading."

In order to adopt a the proposal as district policy, the board would have to put it up for a first reading, then have it as an agenda at a subsequent meeting.

Other board action

Personnel moves approved

The board approved the retirement HHS agriculture teacher Don Schmitz at the end of the 2018-2019 school.

The board approved resignation of Michelle Rusteberg, special education teacher at Highland High School.

New personnel approved for hire for the 2016-2017 school year were:

-- Jody Johnson, physical education/health teacher and seventh-grade girls basketball coach;

-- Rebecca Braundmeier, interim social science teacher at Highland Middle School;

-- Glenn Goforth, special education teacher at Highland High School;

-- Meredith Canterberry, program assistant;

-- Dena Hime, program assistant;

-- Laura Grant, program assistant;

-- Melissa Schmitt, program assistant; and

-- Katie Wessel, program assistant.

A leave of absence for the 2016-2017 school year was also approved for Amanda Mullaney, school psychologist at Highland Elementary.

Coaches, sponsors approved

The board approved coaching and sponsorship positions for the upcoming year. See a PDF file of the list of approved coaches and sponsors attached to this story online at highlandnl.com.

Concussion presentation

During the meeting, Jaime Wagner and Erin Hoepfner from St. Joseph's Hospital gave a presentation on concussions. They proposed a new test the district may adopt in order to keep student athletes safe when injured.

If the board approves of adopting the policy, the new test includes a free baseline test, cognitive testing, and mental evaluation from doctors specializing in head traumas.

Health insurance renewed

The board approved renewal of its health insurance provider, United Health Care. The district will see an increase is 8.7 percent in its premium, but will provide another option for those interested.

There will be an increase in the deductible, from $1,000 to $2,000 and establishing a self-funded HRA for the deductible costs. The employee deductible will remain at $500. The emergency room co-pay will increase from $150 to $250, and out-of-pocket maximum will increase to $4,000.

There will also be an optional plan with a $1,000 deductible. The plan will have lesser benefits, but also lower premiums (2.9 percent over current).

"This may be an attractive option for some of our employees due to the increase in premiums in our primary plan," Tim Bair, district business manager said in a memo to the board.

Vision and Life (voluntary and basic) will remain with current carriers at the current rates.

Dental rates are up about 28 percent over last year, however only about 5 percent over the 2014/15 rates.

"We were able to take advantage of an 'unpublished' program last year that significantly reduced our premiums. So actually pretty reasonable when you consider rates over all 3 years," Bair said in his memo.

Dental benefits will be provided by The Principal, which the district has used in the past.

"(The) benefits are actually a bit better than our current (dental) plan," Bair said.

Behavioral health, speech service agreements OK'd

The board approved of memorandum of understanding with Centerstone for providing behavioral health services to district students at no cost to the district. Centerstone will provide a person to the district during the 2016-2017 school year on a part-time basis.

The board also approved an agreement with Integra Therapy Services to provide speech therapy for St. Paul Catholic School students. An Integra therapist will work three hours per week with St. Paul students at a rate of $65 per hour. Money for the services comes from a federal grant, which is school district is required to carve out a portion from fund parochial costs. Once those funds are used up, the service stops.

Score board to be acquired from city

The board approved an of intergovernmental agreement with the city of Highland concerning the city's donation of existing baseball scoreboard on Optimist Field in Glik Park to the school district for use on the HHS JV baseball field. The school is looking at moving some scoreboards around due to a new scoreboard being purchased at GLIK park. There is no cost to the district.

FCB added as approved bank

The board approved of the addition of FCB Banks to the approved depository list for district funds. FCB was an addition to the list approved at the June meeting.

District to get sales tax money

The board approved an agreement with the Regional Office of Education (ROE) for Bond, Christian, Effingham, Fayette and Montgomery counties to begin receiving the district's portion of a special sales tax approved by Bond County voters this spring.

Bond County voters approved a School Facility Occupation Tax during the primary election.

Sales tax revenues are distributed to school districts on a per student basis. Under the agreement approved Monday, the ROE will collect the funds from the Illinois Department of Revenue, then distribute them to the various school districts.

Funds may only be used for capital projects. It's unclear how much money the district would get from the tax.

FFA trip OK'd

The board approved an overnight trip for an FFA officer retreat at Durley Camp in Greenville on Aug. 7-9, 2016.

Board discusses anonymous satisfaction surveys

The board also held a discussion about possibly implementing new "satisfaction surveys" for employees across the district.

Board member Robert Miller proposed using a digital and/or physical survey so the board would have direct access to what employees are saying about the district. Miller proposed the surveys be anonymous.

However, other board members expressed their disapproval of the idea, because the district already has similar surveys in place. Other board members also said they did not want to jump chain-of-command with principals and other building supervisors.

Action from special meetings

HMS principal resigns

The School Board held a special meeting on July 8. The only agenda item was accepting the resignation of Dr. Vince Hughes as Highland Middle School principal and athletic director.

The meeting lasted 1 minute, and Hughes' resignation was accepted without discussion. District officials had no comment.

At its meeting last month, the board hired Elizabeth Weder, who had previously taught seventh-grade geography, to serve as interim assistant principal at HMS. Weder also has assumed athletic director duties at the middle school.

Board hears overview of health/life safety work

During a special meeting on July 18, Jeff Williams, director of buildings and grounds, gave an overview of the health/life safety work in the district, including:

-- CCTB upgrades at HMS,

-- Fire alarm upgrades at HHS,

-- Window replacement at HHS and Lindenthal,

-- Interior fire door replacement at HHS and Lindenthal,

-- Roof improvement at HHS,

-- Door and window replacement at HHS,

-- Resurfacing HHS and HMS tracks,

-- HHS tennis courts,

-- HHS FACS classroom,

-- LED lighting upgrades at Alhambra,

-- Emergency generator replacement at HHS,

-- HVAC and control replacements at HHS and Alhambra,

Tuck pointing and lentil replacement and epoxy flooring at Alhambra.

Superintendent Mike Sutton summarized the effects of the Senate Bill 100 legislation, basically that zero tolerance policies will no longer be acceptable.

Sutton also provided the board will a spreadsheet showing class sizes in grades 6-8. Grade 6 is much larger, on average, than the other two middle school grades.

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