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Board tables booster‑club policy, approves athletic handbook updates after debate
Summary
The Central Consolidated Schools board received an updated athletic handbook and debated a new booster‑club policy before voting to table the booster‑club item for legal and finance review. The handbook revisions clarify eligibility, coaching standards and fundraising rules.
Isaiah Valdez, regional activities coordinator, presented multi‑month updates to the district athletic handbook, telling the school board the rewrite aligns district procedures with NMAA eligibility rules and Title IX requirements and tightens coaching and travel finance procedures. "We reviewed section 22 on coaching personnel, qualifications and professional standards," Valdez said, noting new expectations for monthly regional coordinator meetings and clearer rules for receipts and timely returns after trips.
The handbook revisions rename the local lead role to regional activity coordinator, refine transfer‑petition language and add or clarify provisions on coach licensing, chaperone responsibilities and financial documentation. Valdez said the changes are intended to improve compliance and reduce the misunderstandings that arise when activity funding and travel occur without consistent recordkeeping.
Board members asked several follow‑up questions about local control, NMAA mandates and whether the handbook imposes additional restrictions on coaches. Valdez said the district can adopt expectations above the NMAA baseline but cannot be less restrictive than state or NMAA rules. "We can be more restrictive than what they're asking us to implement, but we can't be less restrictive," he said.
Discussion then moved into a separate but related volunteer governance topic: a district booster‑club policy that would require clubs to submit bylaws, maintain a five‑member board, limit fundraisers to five per year, require insurance and turn donations above $10,000 to the school board for approval. Valdez said the policy was copied from existing schoolboard policy (K26) and designed to protect students and district finances.
Several board members voiced concern about past local fund‑handling and asked whether general counsel and the finance director had reviewed the proposed language. One member asked for legal review after recalling earlier audits and questioned whether a vendor buyout or other fixes had been tried previously. Citing the need for careful review, a motion to table the booster‑club policy pending legal and finance review was moved and adopted on roll call.
The board approved the athletic handbook update for distribution to coaches and activity sponsors but left the booster‑club policy unresolved. The superintendent’s office and legal counsel will be asked to review the draft policy and return with recommendations and any required procurement or oversight steps.
What happens next: The board will not adopt the booster‑club policy until legal and financial reviews are complete; the athletic handbook changes will be distributed to coaches and regional activity coordinators ahead of the May policy vote that Valdez said will finalize related procedural items.
