First reading of activities policy approved

The Colby School Board approved the first reading of the new Wednesday/Sunday activities policy on Monday. After debating over the past few months over how best to approach the reintroduction of the policy that limits school activities on Wednesday evenings and Sundays, the board seemed in accord that the new policy is a good balance between keeping those times available for students to rest or have time for family or community activities while also giving coaching staff some flexibility under certain circumstances.

The new policy largely functions as its predecessors have during the school year, indicating that Sunday activities need school administration approval and may only be enacted on rare occasions. Similarly, Wednesday activities for high school students should end by 5:30 p.m. and elementary and middle school students should not have any Wednesday activities scheduled after school.

While the policy largely remains the same in function while class is in session, the new version makes a distinction between the school year and summer months, citing that the same restrictions do not necessarily apply for activities scheduled between the last day of school and July 31st. During that time frame, activities are allowed on Wednesdays and Sundays, though they must first be scheduled on the school calendar and approved by school administration, as with activities on any other day. Similarly, activities from the beginning of August through the start of the school year follow the same rule, with the caveat that they must take into consideration the start of other sports seasons.

One other adjustment to the prior ruling is a statement in the new policy that allows, on rare occasion, student activities on Wednesdays to run until 6:30 p.m. These rare occurrences are to require prior approval from school administration.

This new policy was drafted by the policy committee after a meeting was held with the district’s various coaching and club advising staff members, who were asked to give their input on the matter.

“We felt this was kind of a middle ground,” policy committee member David Decker said. “In my opinion, it feels like we are trying to leave a little bit of flexibility for the instances where someone may need to utilize some of that time and we didn’t want to handcuff our administrators with a policy that was too restrictive.”

“We all like to see kids being active and involved in athletics,” policy committee member Lony Oestreich said. “But we need to make sure there is a good balance and opportunities for everything. Sometimes we forget about the academic part of it, the mental health part of it.”

There were some questions and concerns raised as to how often the ‘rare exceptions’ should and could be made, as the current terminology of the policy leaves it open to interpretation, though no changes were made to the policy regarding that portion.

Superintendent Patrick Galligan noted that the board will likely receive feedback on how the policy is being implemented and how it works in practice and that further adjustments could be made if issues continue to rise.

Other Business

n The board approved the creation of a new K-8 instructional coaching position to help provide some relief for the special education department.

The teacher in the new position would work with special education staff and teaching staff to more readily include special education students in regular classrooms. The new position would be on a 60 percent contract, with some flexibility to work more at the beginning of the school year to help new staff get acclimated and then less after the teachers have settled into their own positions. While the position falls under the regular education banner, it would also help the district momentarily bridge the gap while trying to fill special education positions with quality candidates, which is a difficulty that Galligan noted was not unique to the Colby School District.

n The board approved a calendar change to accommodate the sectional track meet to be held at Colby on Thursday, May 23. The day will now be a half-day of school.