Eighth graders join Mule football team

Board members discussed the high school football program at the August Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday, as well as the new superintendent job description. The principals gave assessment results and the board approved several other items under new business.

The coach for the high school football team, Eric Hansen, was in attendance to ask the school board to consider allowing eighth grade students to play varsity football this year after a shift in rules at WIAA made it possible for small schools with enrollment under 104 to do so.

“We’re at 96.25,” Hansen said.

Eighth graders have already been allowed to participate in high school sports but not football for safety reasons. The desire for a team may override those concerns, but on the other hand more bodies may also keep the whole team safer.

Only 18 high school students have turned out for the football team, according to Hansen. Not all of them may be eligible to play when games begin.

“I think realistically, safety wise, maybe five possible eighth graders I as a coach had to ensure their safety could play on the field,” Hansen said. “I don’t want any of them if I could help it. But I don’t want to lose the high school program if I can have them.”

There was a lot of discussion, but ultimately, the school board voted to allow eighth grade students to play. Details have not been worked out.

Some of the board’s goals have been to create a job description for the superintendent as well as an evaluation instrument. Board members Robin Westphall and Paula Culbertson presented the job description they created and shared it with the group.

Bob Garrett suggested changing the section of “required” qualifications to “preferred” qualifications. The qualifications listed included superintendent certification, five years teaching, a masters degree and more.

“The state of Washington does not say you have to have a superintendent certification.” Culbertson said. “I guess it doesn’t matter if they have an education background or not.”

“That wouldn’t box us in if someone had different qualifications. And if we have a hard time finding someone,” Sue O’Connor said.

“If you use the word preferred, you don’t lock yourself out of considering someone who might have taken a little different route,” Garrett said.

The school board approved a certificated contract for the 2016-2017 school year for Joel McEntire. They raised the daily pay rate for substitute teachers from $120 to $130, and approved a maternity leave of absence for Lisa Frink. Linda Wright was approved as a long term substitute teacher to fill in for Frink while she is gone.

To see how Wahkiakum students did in recent assessments, go to the OSPI website, http://www.k12.wa.us and look for Data and Reports under Research and Reports. Select Washington State Report Card, find Wahkiakum School District in Summary and select the 2015-2016 school year.