Twin Rivers School Board members voted 4-3 Tuesday against joining a sports co-op with a Campbell school.
The board had been approached about allowing students from St. Teresa’s Catholic School at Campbell to join Twin Rivers teams as part of a sports co-op.
The item was discussed previously at the board’s July meeting. Voting for the measure were Jenny Hester, Lee Wright and Josh Johnson, while Keith Parker, Bruce Goodrich, Jeff Arnold and Billy Watson were against it.
Hester made the motion to accept the co-op stating, “This is a year-to-year thing, if it doesn’t work this year I can see where next year — vote against it.”
Board member Jeff Arnold suggested a recommendation from the superintendent.
“My position has not changed,” said Superintendent Rob Brown, “I am not going to make the recommendation because I am not going to go against the kids who are already enrolled here and go to school here and live here. Those families made their choice to go to St. Teresa’s. I totally respect that and understand that — but I think that is part of that decision.”
Sarah Musgraves, a Twin Rivers alumni, spoke on behalf of the St. Teresa students and read a letter from a parent whose daughter expressed interest in taking part in the sports co-op.
Parent Amanda Bayer wrote, “They are interested in playing here because this is where they intend to go to high school. These are future students of your school. I know these children will benefit from the relationships they build through this co-op and the earlier they build these relationships the better.”
Musgraves went on to add that the families that desired to take part in the co-op either reside or work in the district.
There are 12 potential players in junior high, but only four that wish to take part in the co-op with Twin Rivers, said Musgraves.
“And three out of the four families pay taxes in our (Twin Rivers) district,” she added.
The other eight students from St. Teresa’s were said to have already joined a sports co-op with Bernie and Campbell schools.
One concern raised was that too many students joining the co-op could potentially jeopardize the opportunity for a Twin Rivers student to play.
“You can’t just hand pick who it is available to, all of their junior high would be eligible to come to Twin Rivers,” said Brown.
In other business, the board:
• Recognized Tonya Schneider, federal programs director, for following through on a health and human services grant. The total to be awarded to the school is $296,600.
• Voted to accept mandatory policy upgrades.
• Discussed revisions to the employee handbook. “I usually tell the building principals if you go through there and see something that isn’t right, make note of that and keep a running copy so we can make those recommended revisions,” said Brown.
• Discussed the re-entry plan for the 2022-2023 school year, which consists of some updated CDC guidelines. School officials said there are no significant changes.
• Discussed substitute pay, which some school officials said is not competitive with other area schools. In previous years, the pay for substitutes, depending on the length of the position, was $75-$85 per day. The board voted to raise that pay to $90-$100 per day.
• The upcoming tax rate meeting for the school has been set for 4 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 31.
• The next board meeting will be at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 20.