IESA Board Approves State Sites for 2017-18; Acts on Activity and Athletic Committee Recommendations; Chris Frasco Named to Administrative Staff

The summer meeting of the IESA Board of Directors was held on Friday, June 16. At the meeting, Chris Frasco, the current assistant principal and athletic director at East Peoria Central Jr. High School, was approved to fill the administrative vacancy that was created when Julie Cochran resigned to take a position with the National Federation of State High School Associations. Please click here for the accompanying story. In addition, there were numerous advisory committee recommendations that the Board acted upon including the elimination of the semi-final round of the hurdles and 100 meter dash at the state track finals. The Board also approved the majority of the state final contests for the 2017-18 school year. The lineup of state final sites is posted on the IESA Web Site www.iesa.org. Click on State Hosts and Dates under Activities.

"We are still in need of a school to host the 7th grade Class 4A girls basketball tournament and a school to host the 8th grade Class 4A boys basketball tournament," said Steve Endsley, IESA Executive Director. "Ideally, we would like to have host schools for these two tournaments that are centrally-located with the facilities capable of hosting." Any school wishing to be considered as a host should contact the IESA Office immediately.

One of the recommendations of the track advisory committee that was approved by the Board was the elimination of the semi-finals in the hurdles and the 100 meter dash at the state track meet. Those two events will now be run in a "preliminary straight to finals" set-up as opposed to a preliminary, semi-finals, finals set-up. The preliminaries for these two events will still be conducted on Friday afternoon and the finals in the two events will still be held on Saturday morning. The number of preliminary heats in each event will determine the advancement formula---there will still be 8 runners in each final. For example, if there are five preliminary heats in one of the hurdle events, then the first place winner in each heat plus the next three fastest times will advance to the finals. If there were six preliminary heats, then the first place winner in each heat plus the next two fastest times will advance to the finals. It is only the hurdles and 100 meter dash where this format will be used. All other running events will continue to be timed finals as is the current format.

In addition to the above change, the Board also acted on recommendations from the advisory committees in Chess, Scholastic Bowl, Music, Track and Field, Wrestling, Volleyball, Bowling, and Officials as well as tied up other loose ends.

Advisory committees are composed of coaches, administrators, and officials with expertise in the respective sport or activity. Each sport/activity has an advisory committee and generally 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. Here are the highlights of the committee recommendations and Board action:

Chess: Recommendations that final appeals on the playing rules and conduct of play rest with the Chief Tournament Director; that all players listed on the roster (including alternates) are to be ranked; clarifications on a "did not play" designation and a bye; and removing the opportunity for a coach to consult with a player through a Steward in the final round of play were all approved.

Scholastic Bowl: The Board approved a committee recommendation that would establish a date that a school must submit its schedule. This will allow the IESA scholastic bowl administrator to adjust the regional assignments if schools drop their entry. There were several minor administrative rule changes to the state series that were approved. Compensation to the moderators of state series matches was increased. Complete scholastic bowl rules will be sent to schools entering the state series in the fall.

Music: The Board approved a recommendation to allow SmartMusic for accompaniment provided the school notifies the host two weeks in advance of the contest date.

Track and Field: In addition to eliminating the semi-finals in the hurdles and 100 m dash as noted above, the Board approved the changes to the 2018 qualifying standards and to the high jump and pole vault starting heights at sectional and state. Schools will be surveyed concerning the possibility of moving to a 4 class system instead of the current 2 class system. Schools that place in the top 4 of the team scoring at the finals will have the opportunity to purchase team medals at their own expense.

Wrestling: The Board approved three recommendations. 1.) To form an ad-hoc committee that would study possible changes to the state series set-up. 2.) There are no substitutions or changes to the school's roster after the seeding meeting. Any wrestler who misses weight the morning of the regional or who scratches a wrestler for any reason after the seeding meeting will NOT be allowed to replace the wrestler. 3.) The criteria was changed to determine an alternate for the sectional meet when a wrestler who qualifies for the sectional has to scratch. The first alternate will now be the wrestler who loses in the consolation semifinal to the eventual 3rd place winner.

Volleyball: A recommendation that the IESA hire line judges for the sectional contests was not approved. Starting in 2018, students can roll shorts when it is done to allow for a better fitting uniform. Strings must be tucked in the shorts.

Bowling: Several recommendations were approved. Schools may now form co-ops in bowling; schools can list up to six individuals for a team (only four bowl at any given time); schools can make two substitutions per game instead of one; and sectional qualifier information as well as other Terms and Conditions for the sectional contests were approved. The Board approved the formation of an ad-hoc committee to discuss IESA activities for athletes with disabilities.

Officials: The Board approved an increase to the amounts paid to the state series officials in cheerleading and to the Coordinator of Officials in basketball and volleyball.

Staff Relations Committee: In addition to approving the employment of Chris Frasco, the Board approved recommendations to set the compensation for all staff for the 2017-18 school year.

Other Business: Assistant Executive Director Report -- Ms. Alappattu informed the Board of her attendance at an NFHS committee meeting in Chicago on music copyright laws. As a result of the meeting, the NFHS will develop an online course for schools across the country about music copyright laws and compliance.

Executive Director Report Mr. Endsley updated the Board on the status of memberships that have been renewed for 2017-18; announced that the One Team Award will no longer be offered due to the insufficient number of schools participating; gave a favorable report on ShaZam Racing which served as the official scoring and timing company for the state track and field meets; and shared with the Board a telephone conversation he and Mrs. Schaefbauer had with Avery Enterprises concerning problems with the state series scholastic bowl questions as well as problems encountered by IESA member schools with Avery Enterprises. Discussion was held concerning a sportsmanship incident with two track coaches from Rockford Eisenhower at the Class AA state track meet who verbally threatened the Executive Director at the meet and were eventually ejected from the facility. In the aftermath, it was discovered that one of the coaches did not meet the IESA coaching education requirements. Rockford Eisenhower was placed on probation for the 2017-18 school for failure to comply with the IESA coaching education requirements.

State Series Finances – The Board received financial reports for Chess, Scholastic Bowl, Music, Wrestling, Boys Basketball, Girls Volleyball, Music, and Bowling.

Treasurer’s Report – The Board received and accepted the treasurer’s report ending May 31, 2017.

Board Resignations – The Board accepted the resignation of Mr. Brice Stewart, Principal at Maroa-Forsyth. Mr. Stewart will be moving to the high school principalship in Maroa next school. In addition, the Board was informed that Dr. Early (Division D) and Ms. Derby (Division E) will be retiring at the end of the current school year and thus will be leaving the Board. Replacements to fill the remaining terms for all three will be appointed before the September, 2017 meeting of the Board.

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 constituents 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 16 meeting:

Division D - Dr. Early received a question concerning the possibility of conducting the chess tournament all in one day instead of the current two day format. The number of rounds would need to be decreased in order to have it all in one day. No action was taken. He also inquired about the possible addition of boys volleyball and boys and girls soccer. There are no plans at this point to add these activities.