BY STACI WILSON

With the departure of Coach Lou Cella from the Montrose high school football program, one organization is asking the Montrose school board to reconsider its decision to end the co-op program with Elk Lake.

Montrose Junior Football president Joe Vanderfeltz – who resides in the Elk Lake district – asked the board to look at the future of football in the district.

Three years ago there were only three Elk Lake students in the junior football program – that number, he said, has increased to 22 as the young athletes.

With the change in PIAA classifications, Montrose opted to end the co-op with Elk Lake citing safety concerns for the players.

In the past season, three Elk Lake seniors were on the squad; along with two other underclassmen and two at the junior high level.

Those players in eighth grade and above would be allowed to continue playing for Montrose.

Vanderfeltz said that in the future, without students coming from Elk Lake to play, Montrose may find it difficult to field a team.

He suggested the district appeal to PIAA and said he hoped the board reconsidered the decision.

The end of the co-op Venderfeltz said, “will be devastating to Montrose Junior Football which is the future of Montrose football.”

High School Principal Bill King said Cella had requested to end the co-op when the new PIAA classifications came out. “I’m mad,” King said. “The person who fought for it then walked away.”

During the meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Lou Cella from the head football coach position. (See the article in Sports, page 13; and a letter from Cella on page 7).

Another audience member asked about the turnover in coaches in the district, suggesting an exit interview be conducted to see if there were any common denominators.

Superintendent Carol Boyce said she had put a call in to Cella and is waiting for a return call from him.

Boyce said that often several factors play into coaching resignations, citing some recent resignations had come for a variety of reasons, such as a change in a coach’s work schedule, small children at home, or not being comfortable in the knowledge needed to teach the sport.

Boyce said that in her experience, including as an athletic director, she has found that often coaching changes are both situational and cyclical, but districts work for consistency and longevity in those positions.

Todd Legg noted to the board that of three coaches on the agenda to hire Monday, not one was a Montrose Area staff member. In the past, Legg said, it was rare that a coach was not on the staff.

Boyce said the district welcomes staff applications; and board president Gloria Smith said that as a school director she would like the best qualified candidate and a person in the district to fill those positions.

The board opted to table the acceptance of the resignation of John Cherundolo as the girls’ varsity soccer coach.

Three coaches were approved by the board: Kate Ford, assistant softball coach; David Hare, junior high softball coach; and Michael Zuba, assistant junior high softball coach.

The board also tabled a recommendation to revised late bus payments to contractors from a formula base to a fixed daily rate after several of the district transportation providers voiced concerns during the board’s work session.

The revised rate, if approved by the board in the future, would go into effect in the 2016-17 school year.

Of the five late buses, two are paid a daily rate of $100; and three are paid based on a formula.

The district submits to the state for transportation reimbursement each year, Transportation director Wanda Harris said, and the district’s reimbursement, based on unloaded and loaded miles, as well as other factors, is placed into a formula.

The board plans to discuss the matter more in depth in a transportation committee meeting in March.