BY TOM FONTANA
Correspondent

Complaints about lack of gym access on weekends could lead to adding custodial staff at Mountain View.
At the district directors meeting Monday night, Dec. 15, high school principal Robert Presley told the board that teams need to have more use of the gyms on weekends.

“They can’t get into the high school gym at all on Sundays,” Presley stated, “and the elementary school is closed up at about 3 p.m. This is a big disadvantage that they can’t get in our buildings to practice.”

The problem was described as twofold: a lack of custodians to open the buildings, and a complicated system for requesting gym use.

Presley said a written request from coaches for gym use goes to him first, then through the athletic director and to the maintenance director.

“I can approve the request,” Presely said, “but then later I’m told that the building can’t be open because there’s no custodian available during the time requested to open the school.”

A member of the audience related that the district decided to forbid use of the high school building on Sundays several years ago to save money during a budget crunch.

“But now the district seems to be doing better,” she said, “so that should be changed.”

The board debated the possibility of creating two custodial shifts on Sunday at the high school, and an additional afternoon/evening shift on Saturday at the elementary building. It was suggested that acting superintendent Karen Voigt meet with the athletic director, the principals of the two buildings, and the buildings and site director to bring a proposal to the board for filling additional custodial shifts.

The board approved a physical education curriculum as presented by physical education department chair Rick Loman (who could not be present for the meeting).

Voigt read a statement from Loman asserting that district needs to increase the amount of exercise students are getting. He blamed that lack of classes on not enough staff.

“Twenty-five years ago,” Loman stated, “students were in physical education classes every school day. Currently, lower grades get about two days a week, grades 9 to 11 three, and twelfth grade none.”

Health teacher Ruth Getz commented that students are also receiving less health education due to a drop in staff over the last few years from five teachers to three.

“The high school gym is empty most school days,” she said, “because there are no teachers for the program. It’s only hurting the students.”

The board approved the new curriculum, and announced upcoming interviews to fill one physical education-health teaching position that will soon be vacant due to a retirement.

The board accepted a Constitution Pipeline Community Grant for $6,500, to be used to purchase four automated external defibrillators, an emergency medical device available for use by the nursing staff. The grant was secured by school nurse Melody Haley.

Board president Thomas Stoddard expressed a concern over the change in MVEA representation in relation to contract negotiations.

Stoddard recounted that a negotiation meeting set for Tuesday, Dec. 9 was cancelled the day before because of the threat of inclement weather. He stated that at nearly midnight he was informed that the representation had changed.

“So that means the representatives we thought were going to be there on Tuesday weren’t going to be there?” he questioned MVEA members in the audience, who are also involved in the negotiations, and were also not told of the changes until a late hour.

“We need to communicate better in the future,” Stoddard insisted.

The next teacher contract negotiation is set for Jan. 13, 2015.