MENTONE - Viking athletics hit a few snags Monday at the Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting.

First, patron Tim Schwenk asked the school board not to approve Duane Burkhart as head baseball coach. He said Burkhart is already the athletic director at Tippecanoe Valley High School and naming him as the baseball coach is, "asking (him) to do too much."

Schwenk said he is disappointed the board took six months to find a baseball coach. He also said he heard some applications were not considered because the process was not followed.

"I think there are a pool of candidates out there who are intimidated to come out because the boss wants the job," Schwenk said.

Board member Tom Weaver said the board took so long because they have to look at everything. Often, he said they spend more time looking at athletics than academics and no matter who they pick, there will always be someone not happy.

Board member Mark Wise said, the board doesn't look at all the individual candidates because a committee does that. And, he said, only two people applied.

Schwenk questioned if that was actually true.

Rod Eaton, board member, said they have to advertise the position in-house first. If they don't feel there's a qualified candidate within the school system, then they look elsewhere.

When the vote was taken on Burkhart as head baseball coach and Scott Backus as assistant baseball coach, the board voted 2-3, with Weaver and board president Bruce Andrews giving approval and Eaton, Wise and Fred McSherry opposed.

Superintendent Dr. Karen Boling said she does not know what will happen next in the process to find a new coach.

The board was then asked by another school patron if the board placed academics as being more important than athletics.

During visitor comments, Kelly Fields asked the board and administration if they were supportive of academic excellence in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. He said his child knows of athletes who have failed a course but continue to play their sport. Fields said he would like the board to "step up to the plate" and not accept Indiana High School Athletic Association rules that allow a student to fail a course and still play sports.

He said it isn't just athletes, though, as any student involved in extracurricular activities should have to pass their classes.

Andrews told Fields that if he reads the minutes of previous minutes, he would know that the board is a strong supporter of academics.

If Fields has information on a particular athlete-student, Weaver asked him to pass the information on to Boling to look at the situation. Fields said he would do so.

In another matter, the board voted unanimously to uphold an expulsion of a student during the first quarter of the 1999-2000 school year including the loss of any academic credits. The student is already back in school.

McSherry wanted to amend the expulsion to state that academic credits would not be lost, but the board voted that motion down 4-1.

Also, because the board felt the athletic council misapplied provisions of the Viking Code (code book for athletes), and because the student successfully completed the student assistance program, the board reduced the penalty imposed by the athletic council and ordered the student be suspended for 20 percent of the basketball season for the 1999-2000 school year. The athletic council had voted to suspend the player for 50 percent of the basketball season.

The school board also:

• Recognized the Akron, Burket and Mentone Elementary Spell Bowl teams. It is the seventh year for Akron's team and the first for Burket's.

• Approved the nonrenewal administrative contract for Karen Shelley.

• Approved changes in the high school graduation requirements.

• Accepted a $1,000 grant from the department of education to support economic education.

• Accepted several Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services grants totaling $3,292.

• Reviewed suggested questions for "View of the Valley" newsletter survey. Board members were asked to submit questions to Boling and she will present the revised questions to the board at the Jan. 10 meeting.

• Was told by Boling that letters have been sent to companies regarding the bids for a high school feasibility study.

• Saw the initial draft of the 2000-2001 school calendar.

• Approved the Mentone School Parent Support Group constitution and bylaws.

• Approved the resignations of Kirby Stearley, middle school language arts teacher, and Diane Eaton, middle school instructional assistant. [[In-content Ad]]