School board gets update on Franklin Field parking lot, talks 8th grade sports participation
Marshalltown School Board Member Zach Wahl, left, raised concerns about a new state law allowing eighth graders to participate in all high school sports during Monday night’s meeting. The board ultimately voted 5-2 to approve the first reading of its new policy on the matter with Wahl and Leah Stanley opposed.
Marshalltown High School Athletic Director Ryan Isgrig fields questions from the school board on a new policy allowing eighth graders to participate in all high school sports during Monday night’s meeting.
Marshalltown School Board Member Zach Wahl, left, raised concerns about a new state law allowing eighth graders to participate in all high school sports during Monday night’s meeting. The board ultimately voted 5-2 to approve the first reading of its new policy on the matter with Wahl and Leah Stanley opposed.
Marshalltown High School Athletic Director Ryan Isgrig fields questions from the school board on a new policy allowing eighth graders to participate in all high school sports during Monday night’s meeting.
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The Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Board of Education heard an update on the Franklin Field parking lot and engaged in an extended conversation about a change in state law that will allow eighth graders to play at the varsity level in all high school sports.
After hearing an update on multilingual students and the Seal of Biliteracy program from Executive Director of Education Services Shauna Smith and ELL/Migrant Coordinator Rachel Inks, the board heard from Adam Daters with Clapsaddle Garber Associates, who shared a brief update on the Franklin Field parking lot with the ribbon cutting and upcoming football scrimmage now less than three weeks away.
As of last Saturday, Daters said the contract is "about 65 percent done" with the parking lot mostly paved and only storm sewer work, sidewalk and landscaping remaining.
"They got a little late start to it but absolutely made up for it with their efficiency on the project side, and we do expect them to get done on time," he said.
He then presented a change order in the amount of $46,709.26 primarily related to replacing unsuitable soils, and some of the added costs were offset by removing other work that was no longer necessary from the contract. He said the new soil performed "very well" during final testing and will provide a strong foundation for the new parking lot. The change order also includes a modification for the lightpoles.
Board member Eric Goslinga asked about how much of the soil testing occurred before the contract was let, and Superintendent Theron Schutte, communicating remotely, indicated that they knew the soils were "very questionable at best" based on the Franklin Field project. A motion to approve the change order passed by a 7-0 vote.
Because two school vehicles were totaled when a driver lost control and crashed into the transportation parking lot on June 28, Transportation Director Rex Kozak asked the board to approve the purchase of two new seven-passenger vans -- one from Jensen Ford and one from Karl Auto Group -- at a total cost of approximately $89,000, and it passed by a 6-1 vote with Leah Stanley opposed.
As the board moved on to its typical review and approval of district policies, one that drew a particularly high level of interest was the new state law allowing eighth graders to participate in all varsity sports -- in the past, it had only been allowed for baseball and softball. After Schutte introduced the topic, he noted that the student-athlete, head coach, parent and athletic director would all have to be in agreement about playing at the varsity level. The player would have to either be projected to be a starter or play 50 percent of the time on the varsity squad.
"It's at a very high bar. As (Athletic Director) Ryan (Isgrig) mentioned, we really don't think there's gonna be a lot of kids that find themselves with this situation or with this opportunity," Schutte said. "But nothing has changed from the conversation that I had initially with each of the board members."
Board Member Zach Wahl said he was "really concerned" with the emotional development of kids at that age and putting them in contact sports, and Schutte reiterated that he did not believe there would be many of those situations arising. As part of the new law, a doctor or medical professional will be required to work with the parent and student-athlete to sign off on a determination of their "developmental appropriateness" before they can play.
Isgrig then came forward to address some of Wahl's questions especially in sports that are struggling with low numbers. He felt the law change was primarily intended to help smaller schools and thought its impact would be minimal at MHS. He added that the leaders of the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) were "surprised" about the change happening so quickly and probably wanted more time to come up with guidance for schools.
"Either way, it's here. So there's nothing we can do about it," Isgrig said.
Wahl wondered if other large schools are adopting similar policies, and Isgrig replied that it varies, with some districts following Marshalltown in only allowing eighth graders to compete at the varsity level or don't offer a middle school program.
Referencing a year-end superintendents meeting, Schutte said every district he has heard from plans to implement some version of the new law, and Iowa will be the 25th or 26th state to allow such participation. Stanley expressed concerns about an eighth grader being injured in competition, and Isgrig said he would be "really, really surprised" if a 13-year-old ended up playing varsity football.
"How do we safeguard against these surprises that we think right now we don't really want to do this, but we're not putting anything in the language to prevent it from happening?" Stanley asked.
After nearly 20 minutes of discussion, the board voted 5-2 to approve the first reading of the new policy with Stanley and Wahl opposed.
Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.