North Clay Board Begins Reinstating Athletic Transportation

North Clay school board members Thursday voted to reinstate transportation for students to and from athletic events.

The Board had stopped the service in recent years due to cost concerns, but voted 4-2 in favor of restoring transportation. 

The discussion before the vote was considerable, with points discussed including whether the district would require athletes and coaches to ride to and from all events, what to do in case of no coach being on the bus to supervise, and what to do in the event of multiple events on the same day and not enough bus drivers to cover all events. It was also discussed whether to prioritize transportation for grade school students due to age and driving restrictions.

The eventual vote to reinstate transportation services is effective September 1. However, board members still want to decide what to do if they don't have enough available drivers on a given day, and whether athletes and coaches have to ride on the bus to and from events. The matters will be discussed at a special meeting on Thursday, August 27.

Also Thursday, the Board discussed alleged violations of a ban of a parent from school grounds. The district alleges that the parent, Patty Smith, has violated the agreement and that Smith has contacted State Senator Dale Righter and the Regional Office of Education saying she hasn't been afforded rights as a parent. The Board voted to contact the school district attorney to determine how to proceed.

Board members heard from Bryan West who spoke on behalf of the FFA Alumni. West said they are "cautiously optimistic" about planning for new park district facilities on school grounds. There had been earlier concerns that the ground would be sold and the FFA test plot located on some of the ground south of the school would no longer be available.

There was discussion of crossing guards to help students across roadways around the school, adding community service requirements for district students, and whether homeschooled students should be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities. Administrators were asked to research the community service idea, while the crossing guard and homeschooled students ideas were advanced for a vote, but no one made a motion.

In personnel matters, the North Clay board hired Kim Teague as a paraprofessional for the school year; hired Kelly Stortzum as 5th and 6th grade basketball coach; hired Ronnie Hyder as high school boys assistant basketball coach; hired Tyler Mulvaney as junior high boys assistant basketball coach; and accepted the resignation of Alecia Lutz as junior high assistant volleyball coach