Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

June 2007 Board Meeting Summary

Board Selects Officers for 2007-08; Reaffirms Policy for Weekly Grade Check in All Activities

BLOOMINGTON - Members of the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Board of Directors approved officers for the 2007-08 (Upcoming) school term, reorganized Board committee assignments, and reaffirmed the requirements of scholastic standing by-law (2.042) at its regular quarterly meeting June 8 in the IESA Office.

Re-elected president is Joe Spiezio of Braidwood Reed-Custer. Elected vice president is Ron Graham of Virden. Jerry Birkey of Mt. Zion was elected treasurer.

Scholastic Standing by-law 2.042 states: A student shall be doing passing work as determined by the local school district in all school subjects and the school shall certify compliance with this By-law. The IESA Music Advisory Committee submitted a recommendation to alter the by-law (See No. 2 under the Music committee action elsewhere in this article).

"The Board has long upheld the requirement that a student participating in IESA athletics and activities must be doing passing work in all subjects each week," said Executive Director Steve Endsley. "I do not foresee any change in that position."

Beginning with the 2007-08 school year, there will be a total of 15 Board members elected from different geographic regions throughout the state. Joining the Board from Division C is Chris Collins of Glendale Heights Glenside, and from Division L is Scott Cameron of Assumption Central A & M.

Board Committee assignments were approved as follows:

By-Laws Committee includes James Bunting of Watseka Glenn Raymond , Scott Cameron of Assumption Central A & M, Chris Collins of Glendale Heights Glenside and Tony Ingold of East Peoria Central.

Finance Committee includes Jerry Birkey of Mt. Zion, Ron Ervin of Auburn JHS, Jim Hochstatter of Galva, and Dana Isackson of Macomb.

Staff Relations Committee includes Craig Carr of Montrose Grove, Scott Herrmann of Niles Gemini, Taunya Jenkins of Peoria Roosevelt Magnet, and Dan Vaughan of Forrest Prairie Central.

Board members also are appointed on an annual basis as a liaison to each of the advisory committees. Advisory committee assignments for 2007-08 will be: Baseball - Gary Lewis, Basketball - Ron Ervin, Cheerleading - Dana Isackson, Cross Country - Craig Carr, Music - Taunya Jenkins, Scholastic Bowl - Jim Hochstatter, Softball - Chris Collins, Speech - James Bunting, Sportsmanship - Dan Vaughan, Volleyball - Scott Cameron, and Wrestling - Scott Herrmann.

The Board canvassed the ballots in the election of Board members, and accepted the Nominating Committee report.

Executive Director Steve Endsley presented retiring board member Tom Cox of Stewardson-Strasburg with a plaque honoring his 15 years of service to the member schools and their students as a member of the Board.

Advisory Committee Action

The Board acted on advisory committee recommendations in Cheerleading, Music, Scholastic Bowl, Sportsmanship and Track and Field, and on recommendations from the By-Laws and Finance Board and Staff Relations committees.

Advisory committees are composed of one IESA Board of Directors member and coaches, administrators and/or officials with expertise in the respective sport or activity. Each sport/activity has an advisory committee and it meets once a school year. The advisory committee reviews the Terms and Conditions, administrative procedures and all other aspects of the sport/activity and makes recommendation to the Board of Directors. The Board committees are composed of IESA Board members and meet once a year.

The Board took the following action regarding recommendations of these advisory committees:

Cheerleading

1. The Board approved a recommendation to provide each school entering the competition two (2) wristbands to be used by its coaches. The wristbands will allow the coach wearing it access to all areas of the competition.

2. The Board did not approve a recommendation to award team trophies in cheer and routine competition based on the number of teams entering the competition in each of the respective events.

3. The Board approved a recommendation to eliminate the novice category in cheer and routine.

4. The Board tabled a recommendation to create a division using level 1 cheerleading skills.

5. The Board approved a recommendation changing the squad size limits in the routine division to: Small Squad 5-12; Medium Squad 13-16; Large Squad 17-25.

Music

1. The Board approved a recommendation to charge a fee of $25 for each event change after Week 35 in the Standardized Calendar.

2. A recommendation to modify the weekly eligibility grade check requirement for students participating in solo & ensemble and organization failed to receive a motion or second. The modification to IESA by-law 2.042 would have required students in solo and ensemble and organization to be passing only four academic courses to be eligible. The current by-law requires students to pass all courses each week to be eligible.

3. The Board approved a recommendation to modify By-law 4.1313 to establish a minimum of 11 enrolled members performing in choir chime or hand-bell organizations.

4. The Board approved a recommendation that allows rewriting a required part for viola in a string quarter to violin.

5. The Board approved a series of recommendations for Accompanied Chorus, A Capella Chorus, Show Choir and Vocal Choirs requiring students performing two or three selections to use one of three indicated voices (soprano, soprano, and alto). Descant does not count as an independent voice.

6. The Board approved a recommendation that the additional instrumentation in By-law 4.104 be provided by a student.

Scholastic Bowl

1. The Board approved a recommendation that the regional and sectional tournament hosts will retain the questions.

2. The Board approved a recommendation setting Monday of Week 30 in the Standardized Calendar as the first date for matches, beginning with the 2008-09 school year.

3. The Board approved a series of changes to the IESA Scholastic Bowl Rule Book that: a) all toss-up questions must be read in order; b) after a timeout is called, teams will have three (3) seconds to pass papers to the captain, as judged by the moderator; c) defines substitution and when it can take place; d) clarifies that both teams may confer with their coaches during a timeout; e) the score of a forfeited match is 301-0; f) after toss-up question No. 30 has been answered correctly, if neither team has scored 301 points, the accompanying bonus shall be given; g) clarifies the blurt rule.

4. The Board approved a recommendation to add a new rule in the IESA Scholastic Bowl rule Book for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, and the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. The moderator may eject a player from the match for unsportsmanlike conduct, and IESA By-law 5.120 also will be invoked.

Track and Field

1. The Board approved a plan to conduct the Parade of Athletes and include the Oath of Athletes prior to the start of the meet each day of the state final.

2. The Board approved changes in the starting times for Friday of the state meet. On Friday, the participant gate will open at 10:30 a.m., the general admission gate at 11:00 a.m., the Parade and Oath will begin at 11:30 a.m., field events will begin at 12 noon and the running events at 1:00 p.m. On Saturday, the participant gate will open at 7:30 a.m., the general admission gate at 8:00 a.m., the Parade and Oath will begin at 8:15 a.m., and the field events and the running events at 9:00 a.m.

3. The Board approved moving the 400-meter dash competition to Friday, conducting the event after the hurdle semifinals. Running event order for Friday will be: low hurdle prelims followed by semifinals; 400-meter dash; 1600-meter run; 100-meter dash prelims followed by semifinals. Running event order for Saturday will be: low hurdle finals; 100-meter dash finals; 4x200-meter relay; 4x100-meter relay; break; 200-meter dash; 800-meter run; 4x400-meter relay.

4. The Board approved a series of recommendations designed to create uniform seed times for all levels of the state series. Times used for seeding at the sectional and state final shall be manual times. Times submitted to the sectional manager shall be submitted in tenths of seconds. Manual times should be rounded up to the slower tenth of a second. Fully Automatic Times (FAT) shall be converted to manual times prior to submission. To convert a FAT time to manual, subtract 0.24 then round up the time to the slower tenth of a second. These procedures will be used by sectionals managers and the IESA Office.

5. The Board approved recommendations for these procedures at the sectional meets: a) Semifinals may be run in the 100-meter dash and hurdle events; b) Re-seeding may occur after the pre-meet scratch meeting for all running events and lanes vacated during the course of the meet shall remain vacant; c) Each site must establish and use a Games Committee of no less than three members to perform its duties according to NFHS Track and Field Rules.

6. The Board approved a recommendation to conduct the high jump at the state final in flights. In prior years, the event was conducted as a single flight.

7. The Board tabled a recommendation that if a sectional is canceled because no host can be secured the host from the previous year would be moved to the closest sectional with a host.

8. The Board approved a recommendation for the Strategic Planning state series action team to further discuss a three-class system in track and field.

9. The Board approved recommended changes in qualifying standards for the state finals and starting heights for the sectionals and state finals in the pole vault. (Refer to the Track and Field page on the IESA Web Site at www.iesa.org for a complete listing of the changes and starting heights.)

Volleyball

1. The Board approved a recommendation to include Saturday of Week 34 (for seventh grade) and Saturday of Week 35 (eighth grade) in the Standardized Calendar for regional playing dates beginning with the 2008-09 school term.

2. The Board approved a recommendation to play the semifinal matches earlier in the day on Saturday of each state final. On Saturday, quarterfinal matches in all four classes will be at 10:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. The semifinals will be at 3:00 p.m. and 4:15. p.m. Third place and championship matches will be played Tuesday at 6:00 and 7:30 p.m., respectively.

3. The Board approved recommendations regarding pre-match procedures that: a) require squad members to remove practice jerseys or warm-ups without numbers after the conclusion of the shared warm-up time; b) permit ball handling 30 minutes prior to the schedule match time on the competition floor in the regional and sectional. At the state final, ball handling will not be permitted prior to the scheduled warm-up.

4. The Board approved recommendations regarding the internet entry procedures for the state series. Each school entering the state series must submit its regional entry form via the internet to the IESA Office on the Monday prior to the seeding meeting. Changes, additions and/or substitutions may be made to regional entry form information until the team begins play in the regional. After that, no changes may be made.

5. The Board tabled a recommendation to develop an on-line seeding program and a recommendation to use on-line seeding in the event a seeding meeting is canceled due to weather or unforeseen events was tabled.

Board Committee Action

The Board committees are composed of IESA Board members and meet once a year. Following is the report of three Board Committees:

By-Laws Committee

1. The Board approved a change in Section 1.0322 of the Constitution regarding who may serve on the Board of Directors. The new provision provides that: "Persons serving on the Board of Directors must be elementary school administrators with a valid administrative certificate from a member school in their respective membership divisions."

2. The Board clarified its interpretation of By-law 2.020 regarding who can serve as the school's required supervisor at an interscholastic contest. A coach from the school participating in the contest cannot be the supervisor.

3. The Board modified By-law 5.123 authorizing the Executive Director to determine the penalty for noncompliance with the by-law, which requires a player or coach to sit out the next game after an unsportsmanlike ejection.

4. The Board discussed By-law 3.050 (Age Qualifications) and took no action.

5. The By-laws Committee was requested by the Basketball Advisory Committee to discuss the use of a multiplier in determining the official (7-8) enrollment of non-boundried schools. The Board heard a report of the discussion and took no action.

Finance Committee

The Board authorized the Executive Director to change banks from Chase Bank to Commerce Bank.

The Board approved a change in the ticket policy for Saturday at the Girls State Final Softball Tournament and the Boys State Final Baseball Tournament. On Saturday at each event, adults will be charged $7.00 and students and seniors $3.00 for the day. All teams that play on Saturday will play two games. Admission prices for the Friday games remain $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for students and seniors.

Staff Relations

The Board extended the employment contracts of the administrative staff through the 2009-2010 school year.

Strategic Planning

The Board received the report of the Recruit and Retain Staff Action Team and acted in the following manner:

The Board adopted personnel policies regarding personal, sick and vacation days for the administrative and support staff.

The Board adopted policies regarding 403b contribution for administrative and support staff.

The Board authorized the Executive Director to create staff incentives throughout the year and that it become a line item in the annual budget.

Other Business

2008 Scholar Attitude Luncheon - The date for the 2008 Scholar Attitude Award presented by State Farm Luncheon will be Friday, April 18. The date listed in the new IESA Two-Year Pocket Calendar is incorrect.

Non-School Competition - The Board approved rationale for By-law 3.043 and authorized the IESA staff to publish it on the IESA Web Site and in the IESA Handbook. The by-law stipulates that students cannot practice or participate in any non-school competition in the same sport either as an individual of a team member during the IESA season for that sport.

State Final Sites - The Board finalized state final sites for the 2007-08 school term. Mt. Pulaski will host the Seventh Grade Girls Class 2A State Basketball Tournament. Saunemin will host the Seventh Grade Boys Class 1A State Basketball Tournament at Pontiac High School. Monticello Junior High will host the Eighth Grade Boys Class 2A State Basketball Tournament. The complete lineup of state final sites can be found on the IESA Web Site www.iesa.org.

Annual Golf Classic - The Board heard a report that a total of 25 foursomes registered to participate in the 19th annual IESA Golf Classic Monday June 11 at The Den at Fox Creek in Bloomington. That was an increase of six foursomes over the previous year. The event is a year-end "thank you" golf outing open to foursomes from member schools, businesses serving IESA or its schools, and/or organizations that provide services to IESA or its schools. The 2008 classic has been tentatively set for Monday, June 9.

Co-op Team Change - The Board approved a request to dissolve the scholastic bowl co-op from the three schools in the Community Unit District 2 so that each of the three schools can field their own scholastic bowl teams beginning with the 2007-08 school term. The schools involved are Sheridan Grade School, Earlville Harding Grade School and Serena Grade School.

Scholastic Bowl Questions - The Board accepted a proposal from Questions Galore! to provide questions for the regional, sectional and state final in Scholastic Bowl for a three-year period beginning with the 2007-08 school term and ending with the 2009-10 school term. Questions Galore! also will be the exclusive question vendor at the IESA Scholastic Bowl Fall Workshop.

Coaches Training - The Board heard a report on pricing of the ASEP and NFHS coaching education programs, and authorized the IESA staff to research the content of the coaching education programs and report its findings at the September 7, 2007, meeting.

NFHS Affiliate Status - The Board heard a report of a proposal to amend the Constitution of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) that would grant affiliate status to IESA. The NFHS National Council will act on the proposal at its annual meeting in July.

Special Projects - The Board heard a status report of sponsorships and state final programs.

June Board Meeting - The Board approved moving the date of the June Board meeting to Friday of Week 50 in the Standardized Calendar, effective with the 2007-08 school term.

East Peoria Emergency Service - The Board heard a report regarding the use of dedicated paramedic service at the IESA events using the EastSide Centre facilities in East Peoria.

Clifton Nash Penalty -The Board determined that Clifton Nash Middle School used an ineligible player in several sports. The Board determined that the school must forfeit all contests in which the student participated, and to be a member of IESA in 2007-08 the school the school must pay back fees for the sports in 2006-07 in which the school used ineligible players.

State Series Finances - The Board received financial reports for the 2006-07 boys basketball state series, the 2006-07 girls state volleyball series, the 2006-06 state wrestling series, the 2006-07 speech and art workshop composite, and the 2006-07 music solo & ensemble and organization state series.

Division Reports

At each meeting of the Board of Directors time is devoted for each board member to report on communication with and requests from the member schools in the member's division. In addition, Board members also may make observations regarding the operation of the Association. Following is a report of those from the June 8 meeting:

Division A - Mr. Herrmann reported to the Board questions that have been raised regarding sectional assignments and the use of medical staff at sites below the state final level.

Division B - Mr. Hochstatter informed the Board that he had received questions from personnel at several member schools in the division regarding the status of the triple jump instead of the pole vault as an event in the track and field state series. Since the track and field advisory committee discussed this item in their meeting on June 6 without any action, no action was taken on Mr. Hochstatter's report.