North Clay Board Develops Guidelines for Athletic Transportation

The North Clay Board of Education Thursday spent much time on guidelines for providing athletic transportation to district students.

The Board cut transportation for athletes to events a couple of years ago due to financial considerations, but it was decided at the regular monthly meeting earlier to reinstate transportation, but to develop certain guidelines as to how it would be provided.

Here are the guidelines:

--student athletes will be required to ride the bus to events, but not back home from events. An exception will be at the coach's discretion when athletes may be able to be picked up at designated points en route to events

--bus drivers assigned to the events will stay for the entirety of the event regardless of how many choose to ride the bus back home

--for all current coaches with the exception of Mr. Frech, all coaches/sponsors must ride the bus to and from events provided there are athletes riding the bus back home. Mr. Frech is currently employed outside the district; therefore, the Board has directed that a volunteer assistant coach ride to all events (and from the events provided that athletes are riding the bus back home). There is no current volunteer assistant doing this, so that will need to be addressed

--only coaches/sponsors' non-school aged children may ride to and from events on the bus, provided that all safety devices are compliant with the law regarding infants, toddlers, car seats, and the like. No other children that are non-school age may ride the bus

A protocol is being established by the Transportation Director and Athletic Director in the event that the District does not have enough bus drivers to cover all events on a given day. An attempt would be made to possibly move the start time to a later time if possible for one or more of the events. If that doesn't work, an attempt would be made to transport as many teams as possible and make parent/guardian transportation arrangements for the remaining events.

Also Thursday, the North Clay board expelled a student for the balance of the 2015-16 school year, and that he may begin school at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year on a probationary contract.