November 2015 District 9 Committee Minutes

DISTRICT 9

COMMITTEE MEETING

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

The District 9 Committee held the November 18, 2015 meeting at Aiello’s Café in Ridgway, PA. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jim Manners. The following members were present: Brock Benson, Bud Brennen, Roger Collins, Randy Cathcart, Scott Daum, Tony Flint, Bill Howard, Jim Manners, Dave Osborne, Matt Splain, Aaron Straub, Bob Tonkin, Bill Vassallo, Tim Walter, and Bonnie Wolbert.

HEARING RESULT:

A hearing was held on October 12, 2015 at Brookville Area High School. An appeal was requested by East Forest Area High School concerning the eligibility of an East Forest Area High School student who transferred from North Clarion High School. Administrators from East Forest Area High School and North Clarion High School attended the hearing. The District 9 Committee was represented by Sandi Hanes, Bill Vassallo, Dave Osborne, Roger Collins, Bob Tonkin, Brock Benson, and Jim Manners. A motion was made by Roger Collins and seconded by Brock Benson to declare the student ineligible in the sport of volleyball for one year from the date of transfer. (Based on Article 6 Section 4 of the PIAA Handbook) The motion carried unanimously.

COMMENTS FROM VISITORS:

Attending the November meeting were Tyler Smith and Chris Niklaus. Mr. Niklaus addressed the committee about District 9 spirit competition. He explained two major issues: the method used by District 9 to move spirit teams to state competition and the use of a safety judge or safety judges. The committee thanked Mr. Niklaus for his input.

MINUTES:

A motion was made by Roger Collins and seconded by Randy Cathcart to approve the minutes of the September 30, 2015 meeting. The motion carried unanimously.

FINANCE:

A motion was made by Roger Collins and seconded by Tony Flint to approve the September, October, and November treasurer’s reports. The motion carried unanimously.

Accounts receivable and payable were reviewed.

Financial reports for the following fall sports were presented: cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, and volleyball.

The sale of programs, merchandise, and entry fees were reviewed.

The committee discussed the cost of rental site for various events. The cost of running events at certain sites is much greater than the revenue generated by the contest. Thus the district is losing money at certain venues. Consideration will be given to rental cost vs. mileages of schools participating in the contest.

The fees paid to game and site managers were discussed.

COMMUNICATIONS:

A letter was received from Harley Ramsey, Principal of Otto-Eldred High School, explaining a situation that occurred at a varsity volleyball match. The match was played without PIAA registered officials. By PIAA By-laws the event must be recorded as a “no contest.” A motion was made by Tony Flint and seconded by Roger Collins to accept the explanation but requested the Otto-Eldred administration provide a written document to the committee outlining the procedure to prevent the situation from occurring in the future. The motion carried with one abstention. (Matt Splain)

A letter was received from Dave London, Principal of Punxsutawney Area High School, requesting a waiver for a Punxsutawney Area High School student based on Article I Section 3 of the PIAA Handbook. All the materials presented supported granting an additional season of eligibility. A motion was made by Roger Collins and seconded by Randy Cathcart to grant an additional season to the Punxsutawney student. The motion carried with one abstention. (Bill Vassallo)

ADMINISTRATIVE:

Tony Flint reported on the progress made to update the District 9 Policy manual.

The new classification numbers should be available at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

There is no update on the EEOC complaint filed by a District 9 official.

The 2015 – 2016 facility usage contract between Clarion University and the PIAA has been approved.

A contract between District 4 and District 9 for the “AAA” individual wresting tournament has been signed.

The “opt-out clause” was discussed and will remain as part of the paperwork to submit for consideration in District 9 Tournaments.

As soon as the new classification numbers are available to schools, there will be a meeting between the District 9 Football Committee and representative form the AML and KSAC to discuss the future league alignments and the format for district football playoffs.

SPORTS SPECIFIC COMMITTEES:

GOLF: A letter will be sent to District 9 schools requesting golf courses that want to be considered for hosting District 9 Championship Matches. The format for individual and team championships was discussed. At the present time the district committee feels the tournaments should continue to follow a one day format. The golf committee will meet to consider any possible changes. The 2016-2017 district boys’ tournament will be held on September 26th at Bavarian Hills Country Club.

CROSS COUNTRY, TENNIS, SOCCER, and VOLLEYBALL: Summaries were presented by the chairmen.

BASKETBALL: A motion was made by Matt Splain and seconded by Bill Vassallo to remove the opponent’s record from the criteria to seed the district basketball playoff teams. The motion carried with one negative vote. (Brock Benson) The basketball committee will meet and will consider using only District 9 opponents in the criteria for seeding.

SWIMMING AND DIVING: The District 9 Swimming and Diving Meets will be held at St. Marys Area High School on March 4 and March 5, 2016

The next District 9 Committee meeting will be at 9:00 – January 20, 2016 – Aiello’s café in Ridgway, PA.

THE ANNUAL PRINCIPALS’ MEETING AND LUNCHEON WILL BE HELD ON APRIL 27, 2016 AT AIELLO’S CAFÉ. (Time schedule and agenda will be posted at a later time)

Respectfully submitted,

Robert J. Tonkin

District 9 Secretary