Bullying, new sports on California school board agenda

California High School
California High School

Bullying will be discussed at the November meeting of the Moniteau County R-1 Board of Education.

The board tabled discussion on a change of policy, recommended by the Missouri School Board Association, until administrators could attend training and a method to "engage stakeholders" could be identified.

The new bullying policy "will definitely change the way we do things," Superintendent Dwight Sanders said.

For example, the policy requires an investigation to begin within 48 hours and to be concluded within 10 school days.

At its November meeting, the board also will review the potential of adding two new sports to its high school programs.

Sanders informed the board at its Oct. 19 meeting that Warsaw will leave the Tri-County Conference in 2018. The conference is exploring what schools might be good additions, he said.

One of the main considerations in matching new schools to the conference is sports offered. For example, Fatima does not have a football program.

Similarly, California regularly receives pressure from the other conference schools to add wrestling, since it is the only one among eight without the program, Sanders said.

The board members then discussed the possibility of adding a soccer program as well as wrestling. Athletic director Rick Edwards will present research and costs related to implementation of either or both of those sports at California High School at the November meeting.

"I would like to move forward to explore our options," board member Paul Bloch said.

At its October meeting, the board also reviewed its transportation numbers with 12 bus routes, two going to the Nichols Career Center and the Special Learning Center in Jefferson City. Passenger counts are required in October and February.

The district has 607 eligible riders for its 10 regular bus routes, which typically seat 70 per bus, Sanders said. The longest a student is on a bus one-way is about 75 minutes, and most routes are less than one hour, he said.

In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Darrell Bolin as the head high school softball coach, though he will continue as middle school eighth-grade science teacher and middle school head boys basketball coach.