The district presented a Coach/Advisor Guidebook at the Sept. 8 board meeting intended to standardize expectations and resources for coaches and advisors across Westerville's eight schools.

Presenter Miss Yanni described the guidebook as an online resource available through staff bookmarks that includes position postings on Frontline, required certifications (pupil-activity permits and yearly training), expectations for supervision and safety, and communication protocols among coaches, athletic departments, families and athletic trainers. "Every coach needs to have a pupil activity permit as well as making sure that they do the yearly training," Miss Yanni said.

The guidebook covers district processes that apply across multiple high schools, including purchase-order requirements from the treasurer's office, PowerSchool procedures for PE waivers and the expectation that coaches and students follow school handbooks and extracurricular conduct codes. Miss Yanni described survey feedback collected for two years (administered each season through FinalForms) and said results inform the district's "Chalk Talk" newsletters. "It is an anonymous survey, so we're just getting a feel of, okay, what are some of the trends that we are seeing for our different teams," she said.

The program includes a sportsmanship recognition (We Are the Ville Award) and plans to expand mental-health work through a partnership with Coach Beyond and Ohio State University-trained staff. Miss Yanni said Coach Beyond, described as a group of social workers and mental-health specialists, will run sessions for coaches, athletic directors and students, and the district will include two sessions at Westerville Educator Day and an event in November.

Board members asked whether the guidebook applies to middle schools and about the survey timeline; Miss Yanni confirmed it applies to middle- and high-school coaches and that surveys started two years ago and are administered each season.

Why this matters: the guidebook is presented as a district-wide tool to create consistency across multiple high schools and extracurricular programs, to clarify compliance expectations and to expand coaching support on mental-health and sportsmanship.

No board action was required; the presentation was informational.