Granton Equestrian Club funding discussed at recent board meeting
The Granton Equestrian Club came to the Granton School Board on Jan. 9 to ask for some financial assistance in covering its yearly costs to attend state and district events. While the board did not approve the request, it did agree to look at the laws underlying the school’s rules for funding extracurricular organizations.
Courtney Schoessow and Angela Schier were the representatives from the club that spoke to the board at its regular meeting about options for funding. Though the organization does its own fundraising, they said the costs to attend annual contests are only getting higher, making it more difficult for the athletes to participate. “We do a lot of our own fundraising; we do a Papa Murphy’s fundraiser regularly,” said Schoessow. “But the show fees are increasing... We would ask that the school put in some financial backing for us.”
The equestrian club has been operating under the Granton Area School District name since it was established back in 2018 and currently has four riders. Schoessow and Schier said the athletes pay for their own equipment, horses and fees to compete in events, with the total entry fees from last year totaling $1,035 in costs to the club.
“The expenses are just like it is for other sports,” said Schier. “Each event has a per student fee, a school fee and a state fee. We have to pay to rent space for the athletes, but we don’t pay for their equipment or horses. That is their responsibility. The athletes have to supply these things.”
As a club that operates with permission to use the school district name, and with its record for not only being a growing organization, but also a successful one, the equestrian club ought to receive funding from the district to help out with some of its operating costs, Schoessow argued.
“When we first started, this was a novelty thing, we were very new at it,” she said. “But I think we have shown that we are a staple of the school... We are the most successful sports organization in the school right now with our achievements at state... We are also growing and have at least two more individuals interested in joining the club next year.”
After the pair made their presentation to the board, board president Theresa Hasz explained why the board is expressing hesitation toward funding the equestrian club. According to the way current laws are written into the board’s policies on clubs and sports, she said the wording could potentially be interpreted to force the district to incur costs beyond covering the club’s fees to attend state and district events.
“If we sanction this and make this a school-supported club, the way it is written and that we understand it is that if someone doesn’t have a horse, for example, and they have strongly expressed a desire to join the club, if we support this, we as a district are bound to buy them a horse,” she said.
The board agreed to spend time during the next month looking at the laws surrounding equal educational opportunity in more detail and decide if a change would be necessary to make Granton’s policy more clear. The board planned to make a decision on club funding during its regular meeting in February.
Other business In other action taken by the board at the meeting, the board listened to a presentation by Kim Aumann on the results of the school report card. According to the report, the elementary was placed in the “Exceeds Expectations” category for the 2021-22 school year while the high school was categorized as “Meets Expectations.” As a whole, the district was listed as “Exceeds Expectations” for the 2021-22 school year. The full report can be found at dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards. The board also discussed the upcoming spring election. Three board members are up for reelection this year: Doug Eichten, Mark Elmhorst and Sheryl Young, who are all running again for their respective seats. On the ballot, the two candidates with the most votes will be voted in for three year terms while the final candidate will have their seat for a one-year term and will be up for reelection again in 2024.
It was also reported during the meeting that the school district will be starting a pilot school collaboration program with UW-Stevens Point beginning Jan. 17. Also a waiver letter was recently sent to the Department of Public Instruction to try to secure an early start date for the 2023-24 school year, and Marawood Construction was approved for a bid to redo the elementary school parking lot.
