Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

IESA Scholastic Bowl Finals to Remain in Peoria

The IESA Board of Directors approved a staff recommendation to keep the scholastic bowl finals at the Civic Center in Peoria through 2021; acted on the basketball, cheerleading, and chess committee recommendations; addressed a couple of By-Law interpretations, and tied up other loose ends at its regularly scheduled meeting on April 10, 2015.

The Board unanimously approved a recommendation to keep the Scholastic Bowl finals in Peoria through the 2020-21 school year. The finals were moved to the Civic Center in 2012 after previously being held at Heartland Community College in Normal. "The decision to extend the contracts with the Peoria Civic Center to keep the scholastic bowl finals at the current location was really an easy decision for the Board," said IESA Executive Director Steve Endsley. "The set-up of the competition rooms and the location of the facility are simply ideal. It truly allows all 16 teams that advance to the finals to have a great educational experience at a first rate facility. I would be remiss if I failed to mention how much we appreciate the Peoria Civic Center staff and the Peoria Convention and Visitor's Bureau for their help in keeping the finals in Peoria. The IESA Scholastic Bowl finals will certainly continue to 'Play in Peoria'".

The Board took the following action regarding advisory committee recommendations in basketball, cheerleading, and chess:

Boys/Girls Basketball:

• Approved a recommendation to change the dates for submission of state series rosters, season schedule, and regional seeding. The change will allow more of a team's season to be evaluated when completing the seeding process;

The Board did NOT approve the following recommendations:

• That all athletic coaches must complete an approved coaching education course by August, 2017;
• To require schools to attend a pre-season webinar;
• That no changes may be made to the Regional Entry Form as of Friday preceding the start of the regionals;
• To change the state final schedule from a Saturday/Thursday format to a Friday/Saturday format;
• To allow regional hosts to hire a third official for regional games at their expense. Executive Director's Note: All IESA regional basketball games are to be officiated by two IHSA licensed officials;
• To require a student who transfers to be ineligible for a period of 30 attendance days.

Cheerleading: The Board approved a recommendation to clarify that each participant must start on the mat in the competition area with at least one foot on the ground. Also approved was a recommendation to change the date when changes can be made to switch the division in which squads will be competing. Schools must notify the IESA Office no later than Wednesday of week 27 as to the division in which they will be competing. Previously, schools had until Monday of week 28 to switch divisions.

Chess: The Board approved a slight change to the time schedule of the state finals to accommodate the move of the finals from the Bone Student Center on the campus of ISU to the Civic Center in Peoria. They also gave approval to explore the possibility of adding a team championship that would be a single day, team vs. team event to be held on the Saturday following the current individual/team championships. There were several changes made to the Terms and Conditions. Please refer to the advisory committee minutes of chess page on the IESA website for an explanation of the changes.

Other Business Items

Schools Not Eligible for ISBE Recognition: The Board was made aware of a state law that has been in effect but not enforced by the ISBE that does not allow schools that are considered to be for profit to be eligible for ISBE Recognition status. The Executive Director was instructed to draft a revision to the By-Laws to address this issue and present it to the Board in June for possible adoption.

Fall Board Meeting Date: Approved a change to the calendar that will permanently move the date of the fall meeting of the Board of Directors to Thursday of week 10 instead of Friday. The annual athletic director's workshop is held on Friday of week #10 each year.

Co-op Fees: The Board once again discussed the policy requiring all schools involved in a co-op arrangement to pay the entry fees for the activity. No change was made to the policy.

Tuition Waiver for Staff Members: Clarified the By-Law that allows children of a staff member who works in a given district but lives out of the district to be eligible to participate without paying tuition provided the proper ISBE waiver has been obtained. The waiver will now only apply to children of certified staff members.

Forfeit Procedures: The Board reviewed the current practice of handling forfeits in team sports that occur well after the tournament has been completed. Current practice is the place of the forfeiting school is vacated and no teams are moved "up" in the final results. No changes were made to the current practice.

Treasurer's Report: The Board received and accepted the treasurer's report for the fiscal period through February 28, 2015.

Financial Reports: The Board accepted the financial reports for the state series in cheerleading, chess, and speech.

Board Meetings: There is one regular meeting remaining in the 2014-15 school year. It is scheduled for June 19, 2015.

Recognition of Jerry Birkey & Fred Lamkey: The Board recognized and presented plaques to two members of the Board who will be leaving their current positions and thus leaving the Board of Directors. Jerry Birkey, Principal at Mt. Zion JHS, joined the Board in 1997 and served as the President from 2012-2015. He is retiring at the end of the school year. Fred Lamkey, Principal at Riverton MS, has served on the Board since 2009. He has been named the superintendent at Edinburg which is not in his current membership division.

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 April 10 meeting:

Division A: Mr. Haupt was contacted by a school asking to review the order of events at the sectional track meets. The order will be discussed by the track and field advisory committee although it was mentioned that the order has been reviewed numerous times and the current schedule is what works the best.

Division C: Mr. Zwemke was asked that the IESA staff review the dates of the IESA and IKWF state wrestling dates. Given the contracted dates of the IESA state series with Northern Illinois University, no changes to the IESA dates are being considered.

Division G: Mr. Lee was contacted by a member school asking that the IESA hire the officials at the regional level in basketball. This has been discussed numerous times by the IESA Board, staff, and basketball advisory committee. No action was taken.

Division K: Mr. Graham was also contacted by a member school asking that the IESA hire the officials at the regional level in basketball. He was also contacted concerning the uniform change requirement in volleyball coming in 2016. Information about the change is posted on the volleyball page of the IESA website.