The Fergus Falls Daily Journal

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Sports agreement will end

School board members said the issue was touchy, with passionate arguments both ways. But a common theme among the school board was that they are elected to represent the public school student’s interests. &uot;Can we not take the recommendation of a group like the coaches association or the co-curricular advisory committee?&uot; asked school board member Tarma Carlson. &uot;I think that we need to recognize what work went into them making that recommendation and their expertise that they have in that area.&uot; Board member Tom Kummrow, who was on the board when the agreement was first approved, said the spirit of the agreement was good at the time. He said the agreement came in quietly and modestly. But he remembers what Athletic Director Don Kostelecky told the school board at the time. &uot;He said something to the effect that it’s easy to start a cooperative like this, but when it comes time to end, that’s very difficult, and I think we’re all seeing that,&uot; said Kummrow. Board member Matt Lemke said the board’s mission is to make Fergus Falls Public Schools the best they can be. &uot;I truly believe that as a District 544 representative, I have to look out for the students that are here, and their participation,&uot; Lemke said. Board member Mary Wilde said she talked to a lot of people before making her decision. &uot;But as I listened to the voters &045;&045; and my obligation is to this school board, district and these kids that go to our school &045;&045; (what I heard) is that the time of this agreement is over,&uot; Wilde said. &uot;And if a new one is written, it needs to be written for the needs of now, not the needs of 10 years ago.&uot; Cooperative agreement proponent, Vicki Jensen, told the school board she has three children attending Hillcrest. Two of her children have played on or do play for public school soccer teams. &uot;I really feel that if we were to disband the coop right now, the strength in numbers, I don’t think it’s going to benefit anybody,&uot; Jensen said. &uot;I really feel like we need the strength in numbers, to join together and just be the best team we can be, representing our community Fergus Falls.&uot; Hillcrest Principal Steve Brue said families who move to Fergus Falls to attend Hillcrest often express their appreciation for the community and how welcome the community makes them feel. He said his mother’s family moved to Fergus Falls from Spicer in 1941, so that five daughters and two sons could be involved at Lutheran Brethren Schools. &uot;Today, four of those siblings are residents of Fergus Falls,&uot; he said. &uot;They came to attend a Christian school. They now consider this community their home.&uot; And Brue said he can name 10 families who recently moved to Fergus Falls to attend Hillcrest and have become part of the community. &uot;We believe this positive relationship draws students and families to our community from other states and even other countries,&uot; Brue said. Brian Draxten, a member of the school district’s co-curricular advisory committee, said the board took a vote last school year and again this school year on the cooperation agreement. &uot;Both votes were unanimous in favor of discontinuing the cooperative agreement,&uot; said Draxten. He said the board didn’t see any benefits going to the public school. He said the board didn’t like seeing $5,300 in state aid lost whenever a child left the school district for a private school. But he said the reason the board began looking at the issue was because of complaints of less playing time and positions lost on teams. Renee Erickson, president of the Otters Coaches Association, said coaches voted 18-3 to end the agreement. She said the number one reason was playing time and lost positions. Erickson said all but one head coach in the school system are also teachers. &uot;If seven or eight kids came back over to the public schools, that is a teaching position, and that’s a top priority for us,&uot; Erickson said. &uot;We would like to make a push to make our public schools more marketable and provide quality programs for kids, and I think we’re going in the right direction.&uot; School board members made sure to include a grandfather clause in their motion to eliminate the program. It allows next years juniors and seniors from Hillcrest to finish out their high school careers on public school varsity teams they participated with this year.