Colfax coaches, advisors upset by K-Bowl decision

Colfax extracurricular staff have told the Gazette they are upset after the Colfax School Board last week voted to cut their pay by one percent to fund the Knowledge Bowl program which would have otherwise been eliminated.

“I haven’t heard one yet that feels good about the board decision. No one has supported the decision to have the board cut their pay to fund another program,” said Cary Cammack, advisor for the fall musical and school music groups.

Sports teams and clubs in the Colfax district require 45 to 50 total advisors and coaches, Cammack said.

Most found out about the decision throughout the course of last week.

“I’m still frustrated,” said volleyball coach Sue Doering, adding the decision was made too quickly with little room for public input.

Representatives of extracurricular staff plan to voice their concerns at the next school board meeting, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the district office.

The motion, which passed at a Sept. 14 board meeting, came after the school board heard a brief talk by Kathryn Vogler, retired Knowledge Bowl coach who reported the program was set to be eliminated.

Vogler told the board she resigned last school year and was told by Superintendent Michael Morgan that her resignation would mean the end of the program.

Several board members at the meeting said they had not heard about the elimination until that point.

The board discussed for almost an hour ways to fund the program which costs about $2,000, including salary, transportation, and entry fees.

After considering several options, including tabling their decision until they could have more time to make a choice on where to find funding, the board decided a one percent cut to all extracurricular staffers would generate enough revenue to fund Knowledge Bowl.

All the extracurricular contracts, which had been on the Sept. 14 agenda, were reworked the next morning, Sept. 15.

Supt. Morgan said this week that in regards to the planned elimination being a surprise for the board, he and the board had agreed last spring they would eliminate positions that weren’t necessary in their budget cuts.

The school district has trimmed back its budget across the board for this school year to compensate for losses in state funding to the district. They were one of several schools in the county to make cutbacks.

Athletic director Mike Morgan who has three extracurricular contracts with the school, said he had talked with several of his coaches about the board vote.

“My coaches and acting people are just a little unhappy with the decision that was made by the school board,” he said.

He said most coaches had told him they were not so much upset about the loss of money as the manner in which the board voted- with no warning that such a move was being made.

“A quick decision on their part [the school board] has affected 30 or 40 people,” he said.

Vogler said the days since the board decision have been tense for her, with some people not talking to her.

She pointed out that if the school staff (not the school board) had not tried to eliminate the program in the first place, the situation would not have arisen.

“If Knowledge Bowl had been left in the package, like I thought it was back when I resigned, none of this discussion would be taking place. I think people have lost sight of that as well,” Vogler said.

She also pointed out that she came before the board on behalf of the students who want to be in Knowledge Bowl. Some students, she told the board that night, can’t participate in athletics or have to have after-school jobs.

“There is tension among staff,” said teacher Christopher Clausen, who has applied for the now-open position of Knowledge Bowl coach.

Some staffers have said they believed Clausen originally offered to volunteer to be Knowledge Bowl coach without pay after Vogler resigned. Clausen this week said he never specified to high school principal Gary Weitz if he would volunteer or not.

“It was a possibility,” he said.

Supt. Morgan said he, Clausen and Vogler met prior to the Sept. 14 board meeting. At that time Clausen said he had decided he would not take the coaching job as an unpaid volunteer, Morgan said.

In the wake of the school board’s decision to fund the program, the coach position was declared open. Clausen told the Gazette Monday he had officially applied for the position. The application closing date is today, Sept. 24.