Colby keeps Sundays, Wednesdays off-limits for school activities
The Colby School Board moved forward with its plans to reintroduce a written policy that Sundays are restricted from hosting school co-curricular activities at the board’s monthly meeting held this past Monday. Also added to the policy is the amendment that elementary and middle school practices cannot be held on Wednesdays while high school practices must end by 5:30 p.m. It will need to be approved once more following a second reading before being officially added back in as policy. The readdition of the policy would not change any current district practices concerning Sundays and Wednesdays, but rather put them back into written word.
Requests from varsity head volleyball coach Wade Oehmichen to hold later Wednesday practices as well as to have an open gym for volleyball players on Sunday evenings brought the policy to the board’s attention.
The proposed policy presented by the committee at this month’s June meeting very closely resembles the previous rule that did not make the transition, with the addition of specific wording regarding the district’s stance on Wednesday practices.
Presented with the policy were documents reflecting the various aspects of the issue. A copy from an old board policy dating back to 1960 stated that, at the time, no practices were allowed on Sundays, demonstrating that this is a policy that has existed for some time. Informal surveys of other local districts’ administration and coaching staff conducted by Oehmichen and Colby’s admin revealed that while many have similar practices, the exact nature of how they were written and enforced varied. In general, most schools seemed to have some sort of written policy restricting some activity on Sundays, though most allowed open gyms or voluntary practices, sometimes needing further approval of an athletic director. Many also had similar unwritten rules limiting Wednesday practices. The board also received comments from several concerned members of the community, either via e-mail or in person at the board meeting. All who spoke were in favor of keeping the practice as is, expressing the opinion that such times should be reserved for religious or family events.
Most on the board were in agreement over the handling of Wednesday practices and the idea that no mandatory Sunday practices should be held, but questions over open gyms were still raised.
“I do think practices are not appropriate on Sundays, but the open gyms are a little different,” board member David Decker said. “And all families have their right to choose. So I still think that is something that we can look at, in my opinion, just because it is a choice.”
Concerns over whether certain athletes would be overlooked if they chose not to attend voluntary Sunday practices or open gyms were voiced.
“Coaches can say what they want. If you have an open gym and the coach is there, there is an unwritten expectation that you attend,” Superintendent Dr. Steven Kolden said.
“That’s one of the big quandaries with this is that, if you have the number six and seven players on a volleyball team and one player makes it to all the open gyms and the other doesn’t, now who starts?” Decker added. “Because there’s no way to know. That’s the other side and I’m really torn.”
“It’s worked for sixty some years,” board member Jean Schmitt noted of the policy. “Why fix it if it’s not broken?”
Other Business
n After Marshfield Clinic proposed new contracts to schools that utilized their free athletic training services in March, the district began its search for an alternative to those contracts. With the current contract with Marshfield coming due at the end of June, the board approved a new contract with Health in Motion. Under the new contract, the district will maintain the services of their current athletic trainer, Maddie Olesky, who they will continue to share with Athens schools. Both Colby and Athens will pay $20,000 as part of the annual salary, with Health in Motion picking up the other half.
n Monday’s meeting marked the last for Kolden, who received appreciation from the board for his services prior to the opening of the meeting. Dr. Kolden has worked as superintendent for the Colby School District for 13 years. Dr. Patrick Galligan will take over duties as superintendent next week.
