July 24, 2015 at 4:00 PM - Superintendent's Weekly Update to the Board of Education

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On Tuesday evening Jim, Dale, Brent and I met with Terry Gorecki, Mark Petron, and Kevin Gadacz.  Terry is the Head Wrestling Coach, Kevin is the Wrestling Club President, and Mark is the main spokesperson and one of the original founders for the Wrestling Club.  

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss possible MSHSL violations (i.e., student athletes receiving Wrestling Club money for wrestling camps) and the Wrestling Club paying varsity and junior varsity volunteer coaches on the side.

The conversation lasted about two hours and raised all sorts of concerns.  The single greatest concern for me is the Wrestling Club's continual wrongdoings (two items mentioned above) after being told repeatedly by the school district not to over the years and the denial or lack of acceptance for doing anything wrong.  

At most, the three of them played the role of ignorant individuals.  They said they didn't know and/or this is how it was done and accepted in the past, which we know is not true.  We know this because the school has had to address these two items several times with the Wrestling Club.

We were not able to easily pin them down (no pun intended) on paying for volunteer coaches.  The item that clearly showed wrongdoing was the Wrestling Club paying for camps.  Their spreadsheet showing hours worked for wrestlers was clearly inaccurate and all made-up.   

There is so much to explain or write about from that meeting.  I recommend you contact Jim, Dale or me for more details from our meeting.  

Here are a few recommended changes going forward:  

1.  No more volunteer coaches for student wrestlers in grades 6-12.  We have 4 district paid coaches to provide a great experience for our wrestlers.  The trust has been broken several times and questions raised about the Wrestling Club paying money to volunteer coaches.  

2.  Mark said they're stopping the practice of allowing wrestlers to work to earn money for camps.  This a good idea on their part to avoid future messes.  However, if they decide to pay wrestlers for working the Activities Director needs to be an integral part of the record keeping for hours worked.  

3.  The Activities Director and MS-HS Principal are the two assigned employees to annually evaluate all head coaches.  The Activities Director and head coaches evaluate the assistant coaches.  Joel and Brent are going to need to make a recommendation whether or not to terminate Terry G., Head Wrestling Coach for his knowledge and participation in MSHSL violations.

I've heard the reason why the school is raising these two concerns is because my son did not receive or had the opportunity to receive Wrestling Club money for a summer camp.  One of many, many examples how members of the Wrestling Club twist the truth and attempt to divert attention off of themselves.  These adults are a disappointment and a poor example for our student athletes time and time again.  Donating money to the school for children is a good thing, but it does not allow or support donors to break MSHSL and school district rules.      

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Yesterday afternoon I posted a brief video clip of work happening in the south gym.  You'll see attached screen shot photos taken off Facebook.  We have 221 views and 1,187 people reached.  Our school Facebook Page has become a very useful source to share information with our public.  Thinking back a few months, I believe it helped greatly in getting information out during the building referendum. 

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Please see attached a handful of different proposals to accept for the shed doors; cement slab for new diesel fuel tank; and gifted, talented and enrichment office/small group classroom. 

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Please see attached the weekly bills for your approval.