NV holds fast to policy about midterm grads in activities

After a discussion Superintendent Dr. Pam Stangeland described as respectful at last Wednesday’s school board meeting, Nodaway Valley early graduates will still not be able to take part in extracurricular activites once they’re finished.

The first semester of the school year culminates Jan. 16, and archery coach Bill Newbury, along with the families of seniors Harlea Hanscom and Maddyson Rubio, wanted to see if the board would be willing to change policy to allow their archers to finish out the season, which lingers into March.

The school’s existing board policy states that once a student graduates, they become alumni. Stangeland said the school reached out to their legal counsel and they did not recommend the district change its policy. The only exception of the existing policy is that early graduates can walk during graduation exercises in May.

Stangeland said the discussion is a reminder of the importance that all parents of students in activities understand pertinent school policies as best as they are able when signing up.

Newbury told the newspaper that he feels that if the school wants to teach students to finish what they’ve started, a decision to disallow them to participate until the finish of a season is counterproductive toward that end, even if they choose to graduate early.

Newbury said he feels basketball players and wrestlers who start their season in the first semester and finish it in the second semester should also be able to finish out the season if they elect to graduate early.

During action items, when Board President Kristen Jensen called for a motion to change policy to allow mid-term graduates to still participate in activities after finishing, the matter was dropped for lack of a motion.

The superintendent said students have other options. They’re able to rescind their petition for early graduation and take advantage of many options, including in-person or online classes, college courses and work experiences. She said a combination of these options would qualify them for full-time student status.

Newbury said he hopes that the result of this conversation is that the district is able to look further into changing the policy, even if it’s not for this year.

The archery season’s first tournament is Saturday, Dec. 6.