IESA Board Approves State Sites for 2018-19; Acts on Activity and Athletic Committee Recommendations; Steve Stuart Elected Treasurer

The summer meeting of the IESA Board of Directors was held on Friday, June 15. At the meeting, Steve Stuart, Principal at Edwardsville Lincoln Middle School, was elected to serve as the treasurer to replace Tony Frost, Principal at Elmwood Grade School, who is leaving the Board after eight years due to his retirement. In addition, there were numerous advisory committee recommendations that the Board acted upon including the approval of a new time schedule for the state wrestling tournament which became necessary due to the two class system that will be in place for the 2018-19 school year. The Board also approved the majority of the state final sites for the 2018-19 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 on the left hand side of the page.

"On behalf of the Association, I want to thank Tony Frost for his service to the IESA Board of Directors. Tony was on the Board for eight years and we will miss his knowledge and dedication to the position. We wish him the best in his retirement," said Steve Endsley, IESA Executive Director. "We look forward to working with Steve Stuart in his role as the Treasurer of the Association."

One of the recommendations of the wrestling advisory committee that was approved by the Board was the new time schedule for the state final tournament. After 39 years of a single class state series, starting in 2018-19 there will be a two class system for the state series. This necessitated changes to the state final time schedule. Weigh-ins will now begin at 9:30 a.m. on Friday of the state finals and wrestling will begin at 11:30 a.m. The Saturday start times did not change. Wrestling will still begin at 9:00 a.m. and the finals should begin around 5:00 p.m.

In addition to the above change, the Board also acted on recommendations from the advisory committees in Scholastic Bowl, Music, Track and Field, Wrestling, Volleyball, Bowling, Sportsmanship, 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 recommendations to the Board of Directors. Here are the highlights of action taken by the Board on IESA activity committee recommendations:

IESA Activity Committees

Music:

The Board approved all of the recommendations from the Music advisory committee including allowing vocal soloists to perform one or two selections at contest. Previously, they were limited to just one selection.

Scholastic Bowl:

The Board did not approve any of the recommendations from the Scholastic Bowl advisory committee.

Track and Field:

The Board approved the changes to the 2019 qualifying standards and to the high jump and pole vault starting heights at sectional and state. Students listed as an alternate for a relay who do not run in the relay will NOT have that event count toward the individual's maximum of four events. Only when an athlete actually runs in a relay will it count as one of their four events. Athletes may be listed as an alternate for both the 4x100 and 4x200 relays but can only participate in one of those relays. Athletes who qualify for the finals at the state meet in the shot put, discus, and long jump will now receive three trials in the finals instead of two. The Board also approved an alternate date for the sectionals. The sectional can be held on either the Friday or Saturday as listed in the IESA calendar. If the sectional is going to be held on a Friday, it can start no earlier than 1:00 p.m.

Wrestling:

In addition to the new time schedule, the Board approved many recommendations related to the change to a two class system that will be in place starting in 2018-19. A recommendation to increase the number of matches a wrestler may wrestle prior to the regional tournament was approved. Wrestlers will now be limited to 42 matches prior to the regional. Previously, they were allowed 37.

Volleyball:

A recommendation to allow schools to play 24 matches in a season instead of 22 was approved. The game times for the matches played on Saturday at the state finals were slightly adjusted. The Board approved two recommendations regarding bench scorekeeping procedures for the state series.

Bowling:

The Board approved a staff recommendation that any bowler who leaves the pit area for personal reasons and receives communication that is deemed coaching advice between the bowler and a spectator will receive a verbal warning for the first offense. A second violation will receive a 50 pin deduction in the game in which the violation occurred. A third violation will result in disqualification for the remainder of the tournament.

To review the action taken on all activity committee recommendations, go to the IESA home page, www.iesa.org., choose the activity, and then click the PDF link under advisory committee meeting minutes.

IESA Board of Director Committees

Staff Relations:

The Board re-employed the IESA administrative staff through the 2020-21 school year and set salaries for all employees.

Finance:

The Board approved new ticket prices for regional and sectional tournaments in girls basketball, boys basketball, girls volleyball, sectional track meets, state cheerleading and state track and field. Discussion was held to determine how best to help host schools eliminate some of the deficits incurred when hosting. The new ticket prices will hopefully eliminate the majority of the deficits and/or reduce the loss at sites where expenses exceed income.

Other Business:

Assistant Executive Director Reports -- Ms. Alappattu updated the Board on the bowling sectionals that were held for the first time and the number of students who are planning to attend the first ever Student Leadership Conference in September. At present, 114 of the 125 available spots have been filled. Mr Frasco updated the Board on the number of golfers who have entered the golf state series for 2018. At present, 363 boys and 230 girls have registered for the state series. Last year, 322 boys and 195 girls participated in the state series. He also gave a brief update of the Scholastic Bowl state tournament held in Peoria in early May.

Executive Director Report -- Mr. Endsley updated the Board on the status of memberships that have been renewed for 2018-19; the corporate sponsorship agreement with Caterpillar; and presented additional information on pass gate/guest admission during the state series. The Board approved a plan where four (4) pass cards will be issued to each school starting in 2018-19. The pass card will allow the holder of the card and one guest admission into regular season contests between IESA member schools and all IESA state series contests EXCEPT State Cheerleading, State Wrestling, and State Track and Field. Member schools are reminded that the pass cards are not to be distributed to non-school personnel. Pass cards will be included in the annual all-school mailing that is sent to each member school August 1.

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

Treasurer’s Report – The Board received and accepted the treasurer’s report ending May 31, 2018.

Scholastic Bowl Question Provider -- The Board approved entering into a three year agreement with Avery Enterprises to provide the questions used in the IESA Scholastic Bowl state series. Avery Enterprises has supplied the questions for the previous two years.

Board Resignations – With aforementioned resignation of Tony Frost from the Board due to his retirement and the previously accepted resignation of Bryan Zwemke from Division C, replacements to fill the remaining terms for both will be appointed before the September, 2018 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 15 meeting:

There were no division reports by the Board at the meeting.