Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THE IRONWOOD Area Schools Board of Education approved a policy Monday requiring the district's self-funded sports teams to use district busing for transportation. The policy was, at least partially, the result of an Aug. 31 accident at the intersection of Cloverland Drive and Lake Street, above, when a vehicle carrying members of the district's tennis team turned in front of a logging truck.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood - In an effort to improve student safety, the Ironwood Area Schools Board of Education Monday approved requiring the district's self-funded sports teams use the district's buses for transportation.
"It's time to change the way we transport all the self-funded sports," said Ironwood Superintendent Tim Kolesar. "Traveling in a school bus is definitely our safest and best (option). We have highly trained and certified bus drivers. I'm basically asking the board to allow me to help, or assist, in the funding of the transportation."
The self-funded sports - which includes most of the district's teams, except major sports such as football, track, basketball and volleyball - had previously been responsible for organizing their own transportation.
The move is, at least partly, the result of an Aug. 31 traffic accident involving members of the district's girls tennis team. A vehicle driven by one of the team's coaches, transporting three of the team members to a tournament in Rhinelander, Wis., turned left from Cloverland Drive onto Lake Street. The vehicle was hit by a logging truck that was unable to stop in time. The coach, Edgar Willis, was cited for failing to yield.
District officials said it was lucky there weren't significant injuries as a result of the crash.
"It's an unfortunate incident, but we are very thankful that no-one was seriously injured," Kolesar said at the time. "Let's just be thankful that what happened happened and I don't want to think about what could have happened. Someone up above was watching over our students and coach."
Under the proposal the board adopted Monday, the teams would be responsible for paying a maximum of $125 per trip. The remaining costs would be covered using money the district receives from Coca-Cola Beverages of Duluth, according to information presented to the board.
While there weren't objections to the need to ensure student safety, Trustee Brenda Agee questioned whether it was fair to make the self-funded sports pay an additional cost for something the district was forcing them to do.
"How can we ask them to pay for it," Agee asked. "They're already self-funded, supposedly, so how can we say, 'You have to pay for the bus,' if they're self-funded?"
Board President Steve Thomas said he felt the board could establish stipulations for the sports as it was the ones authorizing the teams.
In other action:
-The board authorized funding the cost of a bus trip to and from the airport in Green Bay, Wis., to allow a group of approximately 25 students to attend the presidential inauguration.
-The board also approved paying Sylvania Forest Consultants the remaining $5,400 the district owed for work done developing the district's forest stewardship plan.
-The board heard from teacher Cheryl Jacisin regarding work her advanced placement environmental science class has done developing plans for an outdoor classroom and other natural improvements to the Luther L. Wright K-12 School. The district received a $3,800 grant to help fund some of the improvements and Jacisin said other grant opportunities were being pursued.
