March-03-2019-Regular-Board-Meeting-Seg-2
[00:00:00] I love this idea of getting students voices because I'm I do get curious, you know, if if we're buying practice uniforms for the women and they don't want them. Why not? You know, like what kind of shorts are we buying them that they don't want any maybe there's a different style that they do want.
And so that's just something I'm curious about as well. As you know, it is interesting to think about the complexity of the issue. Like why do we have. You know fewer female athletes of maybe are they being attracted to some surrounding clubs or even maybe you know Sports and other districts where they can join the team when they're little or you know, and then I said I do become curious because that is a definitely an access and privilege topic.
I mean those those teams cost a lot more money and you have to drive out of City. I mean, this is in my own experience has been the case and so I. I am wondering you know, what's going on that can we meet those needs closer to [00:01:00] home so that everybody can have access to top-notch coaching and the programming and so that's just another thought that kind of came up for me.
So I am curious about what's going on. And then you know, we have such strong youth programs. I remember when I was in Middle School, we did Sports at the middle school, but that's not the case anymore. We now have these nonprofit youth programs that are. Filling that in and they feed into we have some in the in the middle school, but not not basketball and volleyball and stuff like that.
So these youth programs are feeding into to our high school. And so just another kind of thinking I have about Partnerships and you know, I know we partner with fields and things of that but. You know softball is a little close to home inside. I've watched what's going to happen there and Wilsonville softball and you know access to a feel field to can be so challenging for the girls.
So I'm really happy to see that that that these fields will be updated and maybe even just physically providing access could change some of that [00:02:00] so I think I'm two questions and those are my thoughts. Thank you for listening. I do I am curious about reducing the coaching availability for the boys teams.
And I am wondering I know the idea is to bring it into more equilibrium. And you know, is it possible to create a lot more coaches for The Women's teams without having to reduce coaching for our young men? Yeah, that is a good question. It's something that our athletic directors have actually been working on for a couple years.
It's actually something we feel very healthy that it would be to do to be able to have to be able to have a good conversation about what is a good number of coaches that you. And need in a program and so we don't look too we're not looking to reduce and and you know scare any of the programs and at the same time we are talking about maybe it is that third volunteer and maybe it's the you know, how many people are around in a practice.
So I think. [00:03:00] The athletic directors have had very solid conversations with the coaches about this until we're actually moving in a good Trend. In fact this year. We've reduced the number of coaches and in some of the some of our programs that have more coaches for the most part. It's really about our discrepancy is a round lack of a girls team.
So for our most of our report, it's that example, so there may be three sought girls soccer teams and four boys soccer soccer teams. And in that case the boys team has. Coaches just because they have an additional team. So it's not a Apples to Apples, you know, the voice varsity team has three coaches in the girls team has to most of those are really consistent if you know the varsity and varsity they each have whatever the numbers are 2 & 2 it really is some of these other sports that have a big discrepancy.
Handsome my and look at some of the recommendation was go ahead then in those instances if there aren't enough girls to create another team and there isn't the interest [00:04:00] then go ahead and add another coach to the girls team because you've got in totality more coaches than for the boys teams and as dr.
Downs mentioned, sometimes it's just a lot of the discrepancies. By these volunteer coaches people who just their kids are playing or their nieces and nephews. They're excited. They want to help out in any way and the learning for us has been volunteer coaches add to this number as much as paid coaches.
And so we've got to watch that number and it might just be that we say, this is our quota even for volunteer coaches, but thank you will take your name and maybe. You know next year you could do that. So kind of permission to tell RADS as hard as it is to turn away a volunteer. It does create then this situation for us unintentionally.
And I just like to it's a comment to something that may answer one of your questions about access and [00:05:00] opportunities. The OS double-a has been leading the way in the conversation Statewide of how to increase participation in our female athletes and. They find many different answers but they've been Mark horak and Dennis Burger actually part of leading with that.
They have been part of those Double D's work and have been kind of instrumental in trying to get student voice and we have done student surveys before it's been a couple years and one of the things that we hear is met most of the time it's not if we can add another sport there's interest in maybe other clubs that come out or they have some hobbies that they say.
Well we could turn this into this that would be great. And so. For the most part we haven't heard a great deal about a new sport. We have talked about like water polo. What would that look like? How could we offer water polo car swimming numbers have grown over the last couple years and though we don't have a pool in our district that we use we do talk about what would it look like if we had enough [00:06:00] students to form a water polo team.
That was an example. I do have one more question the. Comments that the salt Girls Softball field at Rosemont Ridge that the facilities there would need to be comparable to the high school. Is that what I heard you say? So in particular The Dugout One of the findings was the dugouts at Rosemont Ridge softball facility are not at the same level as Weston High School's Baseball Facility.
At the at the high school itself. So what's different at West Linn than Wilsonville is there is no girls softball field at West Linn High School. So the girls softball field is located at Rosemont. So it's not because of middle school team are high school athletes travel to Rosemont Ridge fields and use them quite a bit.
Wilson bill just has more fields on campus. West Linn is more landlocked and we don't have as many fields on our West Linn campuses Wilson Valdez. So both are male and female [00:07:00] athletes use the fields at Rosemont for their Varsity Sports. Okay, that makes sense. You could see what I was perplexed about.
All right. Thank you. Very good Grant Reynolds. Thank you. Dr. Downs for that update. It just happens that at the last OS be a board meeting Title. Nine was a topic and I just wanted to mention that Kim Morrow of heart Wagner. Was the speaker and it's also something that pays which is administered by OSB a is very interested in so they're great resources.
Should you need them and they're happy to provide them proactively. Right? So the question is many of the recommendations have budget implications for example adding coaching Personnel adding athletic programs in several have facilities our bond implications. And so you indicated the things are in the work.
So can we things are in the works? So can the board expect [00:08:00] a proposed budget that reflects these additions as well as perhaps additions to the capital the capital Improvement projects list for the bond.
So we've already identified. A few of these in the capital Bond. You should have seen the softball one at the same time. We can go ahead now that the report has been completed we can go ahead with mr. Woodley mentioned this morning looking at permitting design. All of that work. We don't have to wait until November so we can begin some of that process in terms of addressing particular this largest project, which is what it will seem to high school with the softball.
Already, the lighting component is wired at that location. So that's less infrastructure that needs to happen. But we do have to look into some other components. So we've already begun to talk about those in terms [00:09:00] of personnel, which is not able to be addressed in the capital bond. That would be then we need to be addressed in our general budget.
I would like to say thank you very much for being proactive and commissioning this review of title night. I just I just think you think it speaks volumes of our districts and how it prioritises equity in all Fields one. Just one one thing that came to mind as we are discussing. Girls Athletics and potentially adding additional teams one difference that strikes me from my youth when I went to school here in the West Linn Wilsonville school district and was an athlete is just maybe an eye towards which which female sports are now year-long activities versus they used I mean and what comes to mind our cheer and [00:10:00] dance team.
I played soccer and I also did dance team where I know if I went to Wilsonville high school right now. I think those are the answers a year-long activity. I know cheer as a year-long activity and so I would have had to have chosen between playing soccer or being a cheerleader or being on the dance team and I didn't have to do that when I was in high school and that that would reduce the number of teams.
I would be eligible. To plan. So just food for thought if you hadn't already thought of that that is like probably the number one thing we hear. From from our students when we survey and talk to them is they talk about well, I kind of getting some pressure and I want to stay involved in some other things and I can't pick two and then most people that kind of help and support say the same thing you just mentioned.
Well when I was in school, we were able to play two or three or to try a different opportunities. And so one of the things that we go back to Chelsea and I think you mentioned this earlier. We really want to talk about what does it look like [00:11:00] younger as we work in partner with? Cole Sports organizations, we really do want to talk about how we can help together to influence and encourage participation and one of the things that are high school programs work on and our coaches work at is their work with youth and they want to encourage.
I know for instance our girls programs are in with our youth are in with primary and middle schools trying to encourage do summer. Trying to invite them to games go to rec games. Go to Club games. They try to be as involved as they can as well as softball and baseball. I mean, we have all of our Sports they do that but really there's been an emphasis on the girls side to go younger to encourage more girls to come out to try it to say just try this for this spring and they do some like invite some come try this at the high school field from 2 to 4 and see if you're interested so.
I've been I've been pleased and I've been pleased and impressed that we are seeing some uptick in students that are choosing to actually [00:12:00] participate in sports.  What's interesting to note is that while cheer and dance are competitive sports are not counted in Title 9 and they're incredibly athletic and they are so committed to these I would say athletic programs and yet they're not considered part of the Title Nine.
Federal count that it's a national conversation.  The thing I would add is what is Bonnet mentioned is if we survey our students and we offer the sport and give every attempt and the students aren't interested or don't apply, you know, that is. Worthy of noting as a district that we made the effort and if we're hearing that there was something else competing and these athletes really don't want a water polo team or don't you know want a third or fourth [00:13:00] team?
What we need to demonstrate is that we've at least surveyed and offered and recruited, you know and done our best to make sure there aren't any barriers in place or that we haven't tried to at least. Illicit or solicit interest in that regard to so if I'm kind of sad one thing along this line just the importance, you know as we talk about identity and self-efficacy quite a bit and that is I mean this applies to our our female athletes, you know, sometimes our girls do need to be asked.
To you know directly to participate and they probably at the level at which we expect of our athletes these days they probably need to be asked at Young ages in high school might be too late and hence the importance of those Partnerships. I have observed the coaches, you know leaning into our youth programs in the so that that's noticed and definitely had an impact.
But yeah, so. [00:14:00] Asking our young women to participate in teaching them that they can't to see themselves as athletes.  Dr. Downs, thank you for that information a couple questions. I had you talked about the gaps in the student population versus athletes as an 11-point gap for girls at Western High School in six points at Wilson High School.
Is there an acceptable Gap like one or two percent or is this the kind of thing where we just will not rest until it? Even now it's a great question and I asked that specifically I said, when can we feel good about that it you know from Title Nine perspective. There's actually three parts to that test about proportionality and this is just one part I chose to kind of focus for us tonight.
And I think what we say is if as you get closer you're under 5% they kind of look at that and say you're making efforts. It's really about what which way is is the dial moving. So if you get closer, that's a good thing if you're moving away, why is he why are you moving away and for smaller districts and smaller schools and universities [00:15:00] Miss Bonnet and explain how difficult that is because that could be 5 or 10 students that are making a big gap difference.
But first a district our size, we should be closing that Gap and there's no magic number. They actually go to to other parts of the test tours around proportionality and around kind of. Interest in why are girls participating are not. So again those were both from her perspective good and specially that 6% and and so she was feeling like, okay you're moving in the right direction or their districts in Oregon that are at near parody.
She I can't I can't speak for that necessarily. I think I will share that in examples that she gave me some other District. She's working in. It's quite the opposite. There's a larger. And and she's trying to determine what she's hearing is just there are more and more teams that that aren't made and other districts because [00:16:00] of either funding or choices that they don't want to schedule our don't want to have a jb2 team and our district has always taken the stance that if we have interest that we will make it work.
And so that's been a commitment we've made and it's a commitment we're proud of and so any time we've had an opportunity to. Field another team. We work really hard to do that and we will say we will find you games, but we will add a third softball team. We will add a fourth basketball team a third soccer team whatever it is and we've made that commitment and it's gone really well.
Last question if we become a victim of our own success in the Gap goes in the other direction and we have a higher percentage of girls than boys. Is that a Title Nine concern or how does that work? Yes it is. Okay. All right. Thank you very rare.
if there are other questions.  if there are no other questions, we're [00:17:00] going to go back in the agenda to public comment. It appears we have and one member of the public.  Oh, yes. I'm being asked if we go ahead and take a break. Let's aim for five minutes to be back at 7:10. Thank you. We are adjourned for now.