NSAA Board of Directors Meeting - August 21, 2024

[Alum-Ni]

The NSAA Board of Directors met on August 21, 2024 at the NSAA office in Lincoln with the following members present:

District I - Kara Graham, Lincoln Southeast​

District I - Dade McDonald, McCool Junction​

District II - Dr. Nick Wemhoff, Fort Calhoun​

District II - Thomas Lee, Omaha Westview​

District III - Dr. Jon Cerny, Bancroft-Rosalie​

District IV - Darren Tobey, Broken Bow​

District V - Robert Drews, Arapahoe​

District VI - Dr. Troy Unzicker, Alliance​

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Also in attendance: Dr. Zainab Rida, Nebraska Department of Education liaison; Bobby Truhe, NSAA Legal Counsel; Crystal Kjar; Darin Boysen, Nebraska Coaches Association; Dr. Mitchell Stine, Activities Director, Norris High School; Matt Martin, Activities Director, Crete High School; and Dave Hoxworth, Activities Director, Scottsbluff High School.

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m.

1. Moved to nominate Darren Tobey as Chairperson and Thomas Lee as Vice Chairperson. Motion Carried: 8-0

2. Moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Items on the Consent Agenda included:

• approval of the Agenda as presented
• approval of the Minutes of the June 14, 2024 Board of Directors meeting
• approval of the Minutes of the July 26, 2024 Classification Committee meeting
• approval of the Minutes of the August 6, 2024 District Boundary Review Committee meeting
• approval of the Financial Statements
  
  
• approval of the following new cooperative sponsorships for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years:
  • Gering and Kimball for Softball
  • Ponca and Homer for Softball
  • Omaha Roncalli and Omaha Duchesne for Softball
  • Humphrey and Lindsay Academy for Boys Cross Country, Girls Cross Country, Girls Golf and Play Production
  • Bruning-Davenport and Shickley for Girls Golf
  • Harvard and Giltner for Girls Wrestling
  • Columbus, Columbus Scotus and Columbus Lakeview for Boys Swimming and Girls Swimming
  • St. Edward and Newman Grove for Girls Wrestling, Boys Bowling and Girls Bowling
  • Omaha Buena Vista and Omaha Bryan for Girls Basketball
  • Bellevue East, Bellevue West and Platteview for Boys Swimming and Girls Swimming
  • Fremont and Fremont Bergan for Boys Bowling and Girls Bowling
    
• approval of the following cooperative sponsorship renewals for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years
  • Grand Island Central Catholic, Doniphan-Trumbull, Wood River, and Heartland Lutheran for Softball
  • Bertrand and Loomis for Boys Cross Country and Girls Cross Country
  • Emerson-Hubbard and Allen for Boys Cross Country, Girls Cross Country, Girls Golf and Girls Wrestling
  • Omaha Brownell-Talbot, Omaha Mercy, Omaha Concordia and Omaha Roncalli for Girls Swimming
  • Ansley, Litchfield and Pleasanton for Girls Wrestling
  • Elkhorn, Elkhorn North and Elkhorn South for Boys Swimming and Girls Swimming
  • Adams Central and Hastings for Girls Wrestling
  • Twin River and Osceola for Baseball
  • Crete and Milford for Baseball
    
• The dissolution of the following cooperative sponsorship for the 2024-25 school year:
  • Lyons-Decatur Northeast and Oakland-Craig for Girls Wrestling

Motion Carried: 8-0

3. The Board was provided Conflict of Interest forms for their signatures.

4. Moved to allow Executive Director Jennifer Schwartz and Associate Director Jeff Johnson to sign all documents, financial statements and reports relating to operations, investments, expenditures and receipts of the NSAA. Motion Carried: 8-0

5. Moved to adjust the reimbursement formula for state championship qualifying schools, removing the 50-mile deduction. Motion Carried: 8-0

6. Moved to approve the 2024 Fall Activity Manuals. Motion Carried: 8-0

7. Moved to approve the 2024-25 Media Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

8. Moved to approve the 2024-25 Officials Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

9. Moved to approve the 2024-25 NSAA Policy Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

10. Moved to approve the 2024 District Music Financial Report. Motion Carried: 8-0

11. The Board entered into closed session at 9:02 a.m. to hear an appeal from Bennington High School.

12. The Board exited closed session at 9:20 a.m.

13. It was moved to allow the following schools to opt-up one classification in the respective activities:

• Gretna (Softball)
• Adams Central (Girls Golf)
• Malcolm (Play Production)
• Howells-Dodge (Play Production)
• Omaha Nation (Play Production)
• Osceola (Play Production)
• Weeping Water (Play Production)
• Homer (Play Production)
• Elmwood-Murdock (Play Production)

Motion Carried: 8-0

14. Moved to grant a wavier to the Omaha Skutt wrestling team to modify the dates of the December Moratorium to December 23-27, 2024. Motion Carried: 8-0

15. Moved to approve a date change for the 2025 Girls Wrestling Districts, moving to Friday, February 7, 2025 and Saturday, February 8, 2025 of Week 31 of the NSAA Calendar, with Class B being held on Friday and Saturday and Class A being held on Saturday. Motion Carried: 8-0

16. Moved to approve the Wet Bulb Globe Thermometer Heat Modification Guidelines, recommending that member schools use the appropriate chart based on their region. Motion Carried: 8-0

17. Moved to deny Grand Island Central Catholic's request for a waiver of the CSIET requirement of NSAA Bylaw 2.7.5.2 for the 2024-25 school year. Motion Carried: 8-0

18. The Board discussed NSAA Bylaw 1.10 -- Due Process.

19. The Board heard a presentation from Nebraska Coaches Association Executive Director Darin Boysen.

20. The Board heard a presentation from Dr. Mitchell Stine and Matt Martin of the Competitive Balance Committee.

21. NSAA Staff reports included the following informational items:

• The NSAA Softball Championship RFP will be available on the NSAA website in September, due in October with potential host presentations taking place at the November Board meeting
  
  
• The 2025 Girls Wrestling Championships will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 18-19, 2025. The 2025 Boys Wrestling Championships will take place on Thursday through Saturday, February 20-22, 2025. The Girls Championship Finals (Wednesday P.M.) and Boys Championship Finals (Saturday P.M.) will be broadcast live on Nebraska Public Media.
  
  
• It was annoucned that a Journalism Advisor Summit is being planned for the near future.
  
  
• The August 9th meeting of the NSAA Student Advisory Committee (SAC) included the committee discussing increasing their number of service projects, attending NSAA Board Meetings and NSAA District Meetings and recording Sportsmanship PSAs to be played during 2024-25 NSAA State Championship events.
  
  
• Also on August 9th, in conjunction with the Nebraska Department of Education and the NSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, members of the NSAA SAC participated in a video shoot, providing content for an informational video series focusing on mental health for student activity participants. Videos will be available later this fall on the NSAA YouTube channel.

22. Moved to enter into executive session at 1:17 p.m. Motion Carried: 8-0

23. Moved to exit executive session at 1:56 p.m. Motion Carried: 8-0

24. In the matter of the Bennington High School hearing, it was moved that the eligibility of the Bennington student shall be based on the domicile of the parent with whom the student is living. Motion Carried: 8-0

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:57 p.m.

The next meeting of the NSAA Board of Directors will be September 19, 2024 at the NSAA Office in Lincoln.

 

[TC53]

>17. Moved to deny Grand Island Central Catholic's request for a waiver of the CSIET requirement of NSAA Bylaw 2.7.5.2 for the 2024-25 school year. Motion Carried: 8-0

Probably a foreign exchange eligibility issue?