Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

June 2006 Board Meeting Summary

Board Reorganizes, Selects Officers, Makes Committee Assignments for 2006-07

BLOOMINGTON - Members of the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Board of Directors approved officers for the 2006-07 (upcoming) school term and reorganized Board committee assignments at its regular quarterly meeting June 9 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.

There are a total of 14 Board members elected from different geographic regions throughout the state. Joining the Board from Division G is James Bunting of Watseka Glenn Raymond.

Board Committee assignments were approved as follows:

By-Laws Committee includes James Bunting of Watseka Glenn Raymond (Division G), Craig Carr of Newton Jasper County (Division M), Tony Ingold of East Peoria Central (Division J) and Eric Skoog of Antioch Upper Grade School (Division A).

Finance Committee includes Jerry Birkey of Mt. Zion (Division I), Ron Ervin of Divernon (Division L), Jim Hochstatter of Galva (Division B), and Dana Isackson of Macomb (Division F).

Staff Relations Committee includes Craig Carr of Newton Jasper County (Division M), Tom Cox of Stewardson-Strasburg (Division K), Taunya Jenkins of Peoria Roosevelt Magnet and Dan Vaughn of Forest Prairie Central (Division D).

Board members also are appointed on an annual basis as a liaison to each of the advisory committees. Advisory committee assignments for 2006-07 will be:

Baseball - Gary Lewis, Basketball - Ron Ervin, Cheerleading - Dana Isackson, Cross Country - Craig Carr, Music - Taunya Jenkins, Scholastic Bowl - Jim Hochstatter, Softball - Tom Cox, Speech - James Bunting, Sportsmanship - Gary Lewis, Volleyball - Dan Vaughn - Eric Skoog.

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

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 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) Authorized the staff to send a flyer to all member schools informing the membership of the date and other aspects of the state series.

2) Approved a recommendation to create a third division of competition in the Routine Division. The divisions will be Small (up to 8 performers), Medium (9-16 performers) and Large (17-25 performers).

3) Approved a recommendation that requires a team to move down to the next applicable division if due to illness, injury or other circumstance the number of cheerleaders participating in the competition does not make them eligible for the division in which they originally entered.

4) Approved a recommendation that signs used during the competition may be placed on the competition mat prior to the performance. Such signs may be placed on or off the mat without penalty.

5) Authorized the staff to conduct a cheerleading workshop in the spring of 2007. The workshop is tentatively set for Friday, April 27.

Music

1) Approved adding to Terms and Conditions V. Section G that "Scales are not required at the IESA Solo and Ensemble Contest.

2) Authorized the staff to survey IESA music schools on the use of Smart Music, and if any of the site host schools would want to use Smart Music at the contest in 2007.

3) Established the following procedure for a complaint regarding a judge:

The director should fill out a Judges Evaluation Form stating the complaint and submit it to the IESA Office.

4) The Board approved four Points of Emphasis for 2007 and authorized the staff to communicate them to the music schools.

Scholastic Bowl

1) Approved a recommendation to move the date of the regional to Wednesday of Week No. 43 in the Standardized Calendar.

2) Approved a requirement that schools must submit their scholastic bowl record online to the IESA Office during the sectional seeding process. A school that does not submit the required information online by the published deadline will not be eligible to participate in the state series.

3) Approved a clarification in what paper can be used by contestants.

4) Approved the definition for Communications as follows: "Communications shall be defined as any form of written, verbal or physical exchange between players, and between players and non-players, to gain an advantage." This definition will give moderators leeway in judging the Communications rule.

5) Approved the Sectional Seeding Procedure and the Pairings for the 2007 state series. These will be published in the Scholastic Bowl Manual sent to IESA schools.

Track and Field

1) Approved new qualifying standards in the 7A boys 1600 (5:28), 8A boys 1600 (5:13), 7A boys 4 x 200 relay (1:57) and 8A 4 x 200 relay (1:49).

2) The Board did not approve recommended new pole vault qualifying standards and state meet starting heights in pole vault for both boys and girls.

3) Changed the time for the start of field events and running events on Friday of the state final meets. Field events will begin at 12:30 p.m. and running events at 2:30 p.m. Approved shortening the lunch break in competition Saturday to 30 minutes from 45 minutes. The changes are designed to accommodate the institution of an awards presentation procedure on the infield to all place winners in all events.

4) Changed the order of the running events in the sectional and state final meets to:

At the State Final Meets, the hurdles, 100 Meter Dash and 1600 Meter Run will be contested Friday. The remaining running events will be contested Saturday.

5) The Board did not approve a recommendation to conduct at the sectional level the girls hurdles race and all other running events together while the boys compete in field events, and then to conduct the boys hurdles race and all other running events together while the girls compete in field events.

6) Approved two exceptions to NFHS Track and Field rules. At the state track meet, the high jump will be conducted in flights of six at the height. At the sectional, there will be eight finalists in all field events. The number of finalists in all running events at the sectional will be determined by the number of lanes on the track. In all events, still only six places will be scored.

7) Authorized the staff to implement a plan to have one boy and one girl each present a competitor oath in conjunction with the Parade of Competitors on Saturday of both the Class A and Class AA State Final Track and Field Meets. The athletes would be eighth graders selected by IESA staff from among the previous year's returning event winners.

8) Approved opening the competitors entrance 90 minutes prior to the start of the first event each day of the state final meets.

9) Did not approve a proposal to allow persons who are administrators or school staff with the IESA Activity Pass to enter the main parking lot and park at no charge. School busses currently are the only school vehicles authorized to enter the lot at no charge.

10) Approved conducting the hurdles and 100 Meter Dash at the sectional level with only preliminaries and finals, eliminating semifinals.

11) Approved awarding five ribbons to each placing relay team at the sectional. In IESA Track and Field, schools may list five athletes on their relay entry. Four of the five run in the race, but it counts as an event for all five listed athletes.

12) Approved adoption of a Pole Vault Weight Verification Card, which must be completed by the coach of each vaulter prior to the vaulter's participation in the event at the sectional and state final.

By-Laws Committee

The Board approved several changes in the by-laws and policies of the Association effective with the 2006-07 (next) school term. These changes will be reflected in the 2006-07 Handbook to be printed and mailed to member schools in the annual pre-school supply mailing, and in the online version at www.iesa.org.

1) The Board approved a question and answer regarding a teacher strike at a member school involved in a cooperative team. IESA Strike By-laws will apply. If either cooperating team experiences a strike, the students from the striking school will be restricted from competition for the duration of the strike. Students from the non-striking school may continue to participate. If the non-striking school is unable, due to insufficient numbers, etc., to fulfill the terms of contracted obligations, the cooperative team will be held in breach of contract.

2) The Board dropped By-law 2.032 which states that students must be in attendance not later than the beginning of the eleventh (11th) school day of the year. Current transfer by-laws allow students to be eligible immediately upon meeting all eligibility requirements. This was a housekeeping action.

Finance Committee

The Board took the following action regarding these recommendations by the committee:

1) Approved increases in officials fees in baseball, softball, cross-country, basketball, wrestling, volleyball and track and field.

2) Approved an increase of $1.00 in adult ticket prices for the regionals and sectionals in girls basketball, boys basketball and girls volleyball to $4.00. Ticket price for students and seniors remains $2.00.

3) Established an All Day Pass at a price of $7.00 for adults and $3.00 for students and seniors for the Saturday games in girls basketball, boys basketball and girls volleyball in the new four-class system which begins in the 2006-07 (next) school term.

4) Authorized the staff to purchase a new postage metering system from Walz.

5) Determined that hosts of regionals and sectionals in Baseball, Softball and Scholastic Bowl shall not charge admission.

6) Approved $30 as the fee for participants in the IESA conducted Workshops.

7) Established $100 as the maximum amount a school hosting the new mandatory division meetings may spend on refreshments. Hosts will be required to document their expense.

8) Set a limit of $500 as the amount that the Association will provide to the hosts of the state finals in wrestling and track and field for t-shirts provided to personnel (officials, workers, volunteers, etc.) at the state final.

9) Established a uniform reimbursement procedure to host schools of the state final events for a share of the proceeds from the sale of the official IESA merchandise at the respective state final event.

10) Established a mileage reimbursement rate of .415 cents per mile for Board members, advisory committee members and Strategic Planning action team members.

Other Business

State Final Sites - The Board finalized approval of the sites for all IESA State Final events for 2006-07. Normal Parkside will host the Cross-Country Meet at adjacent Maxwell Park. Riverton will host the Seventh Grade Boys Basketball Class 1A State Final. El Paso Gridley High School will be the site of the Seventh Grade Girls Volleyball Class 1A State final.

Volleyball Terms and Conditions -- IESA schools will not play the Libero rules in the NFHS Track and Field Rule Book. IESA schools may play in no more than four (4) matches in one day in all tournament play. This is an increase of one match from the previous limit in the by-law. The by-law regarding the size and location of numbers on uniforms was clarified. The number on the volleyball uniform shall be at least four (4) inches tall on the front of the top and at least six (6) inches tall on the back of the top. It may contain the digits 0-9. The numbers 00-09 are not allowed. The placement of the number on the front of the uniform may be located no more than five (5) inches below the bottom edge of any neckline, ribbing, placket or seam.

Breach of Contract - The Board determined that Bloomington St. Mary's was in breach of contract involving a track and field meet with Deland Weldon. The Board determined that Bloomington St. Mary's is ineligible to participate in any IESA state series until it pays its entry fee of $45 to Deland Weldon.

The Board determined that if the school does not pay the entry fee by June 30 the school will be subject to additional penalties.

Grade School Field Trip Day - The Board voted to discontinue the Grade School Field Trip Day co-hosted with the Illinois High School Association on the Wednesday between the IHSA Class A and Class AA Boys State Basketball Tournaments. The date of the event conflicts with the ISAT tests, and the number of students at this year's event declined significantly. The event was launched 10 years ago and drew as many as 5,500 students for it.

Baseball Home Run Distance - The Board voted to amend baseball by-law 4.0132 to establish 225 feet as the minimum home run distance during state series competition. With expansion to three classes in boys baseball for the 2006-07 school term, a third diamond will be used for the State Final Tournament at EastSide Centre in East Peoria. The third field to be used this fall has a distance of 225 feet down the foul lines and 250 to center field. The Class 1A State Final will be played on the smaller field at EastSide Centre. Class 2A and Class 3A will be played on the fields used in the past.

Mandatory Division Meetings - The Board voted to exempt "feeder schools" from the requirement that these school be represented at the mandatory Division Meetings, set to begin this fall. These schools do not enter the respective IESA state series as themselves. Rather, students in fifth and/or sixth grade who attend these schools "play up" on the grade school or junior high school team that the students will attend when they are in seventh and eighth grade. All schools that enter at least one IESA state series in a given school term are required to be represented at the mandatory Division Meetings.

School Compliance Report - The Board accepted the report from Ford Heights Beck Upper Grade Center regarding the action it has taken to guarantee that it is in compliance with IESA by-laws, policies and procedures.

Financial Reports - The Board received the financial reports from the 2005-06 Girls Volleyball State Series, the 2005-06 State Wrestling State Series, the 2005-06 Scholastic Bowl State Series, the 2005-06 Track and Field State Series, and the 2005-06 Music State Series. In addition, the Board accepted the report from The Sports Section for its photographic coverage of the IESA state final events and the report from The Cubby Hole for its official merchandise sales at all IESA state series events. The Board also received the regular IESA budget report.

IESA/IHSA Luncheon at IPA - The Board heard a report that former Chicago Bear All-Pro defensive lineman Dan Hampton will be the guest speaker at the luncheon co-hosted by IESA and IHSA at the annual Illinois Principals Association Fall Conference.

Membership Expansion - The Board heard a report of on going discussion with representatives from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) regarding participation in IESA state series in athletics by the junior high schools under the CPS umbrella.

Board of Directors Eligibility - The Board directed the staff to develop wording for amending section 1.0322 of the Constitution so that it encompasses the philosophy that those eligible to serve on the IESA Board of Directors are members of the administrative staff for the school/district.

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 9 meeting:

The Board president surveyed the members and all told the president they had nothing to report.