It's still in the beginning phase, but superintendent Kelly Haagland is working with Rich Roth to create public access to the high school weight room and with Nathan Merrill to develop a protocol for the public's use of the gym. They are getting closer. Kelly is in the process of writing the rough draft.
Reported in the ? of The Mountaineer was the following paragraph; "The biggest discussion of the night was the Annex and Gym access. In prior years adults were allowed fobs allowing them access to the annex and the gym. They were required to sign a release form and, during the day, needed to sign in at the office. This year Glen Terry read the following wording to those present. The insurance company "strongly advises against parents or students having a key to the gym, meaning school staff would need to be responsible for the traffic in and out of the building during open gym times. They did allow for discussion asking all in attendance to email their suggestions to the school so that they could make policy concerning attendance to an open gym....... Several people expressed concern about not using the school building like before. One suggestion was to get more subs among the parents, which would allow them to be on staff and allow for more personnel with proper clearance to supervise the gym area."
They no longer are considering staff, but rather a smaller group of responsible adults to open the annex and the gym. The one thing they know is that they cannot have 75 people with access to the gym. Kelly says he can watch all cameras in and around the gym, plus the outside entrances, so long as a responsible adult oversees the areas. It should be good to go.
Nathan said they are trying to build a framework, but they aren't sure what it will look like yet
. There will be rules governing the use-no street shoes, for example. The place should be left clean; you must carry it out if you carried anything in. Wiping down the weight equipment after use and when the gym is open isn't a free babysitting service. People
will need to be respectful and responsible.
The gym floor is still not fixed. The flooring company will need to redo the finish on the floor starting the end of May, which could take up to 4 weeks.
There will be scheduled public gym usage on the school web page when it is completed. It won't be a free for all. Every coach will have input. One night, for example, would be for volleyball, the next for practicing basketball shots. One could be for adult use. Yes, there will be nights for playing games, but it will be scheduled on the calendar.
