Meeting was convened at 4:15 p.m. by Chairman Majikes
ITEM 1 Chairman Majikes welcomed member schools to the meeting and quickly introduced the PIAA District II committee members as well as PIAA Executive Director Brad Cashman and PIAA Assistant Executive Director Melissa Mertz.
ITEM 2 Chairman Majikes thanked all of the member schools for their cooperation during the past year in regard to hosting district championship events in all of the various sports. The cooperation of all of the member schools in District II is greatly appreciated.
ITEM 3 A motion was made by Frank Parra (AD-Wyoming Area High School), seconded by Tim Honeywell (AD-Berwick High School) to approve the minutes of the 2007 Annual Business meeting and to dispense with the reading of said minutes. All Ayes
ITEM 4 Frank Victor, District II Treasurer, gave the 2007 Treasurer’s Report. Our operating budget for 2007-2008 was set at $375,000. Our fund balance as of June 30, 2007 was $129,157.54, an increase in the fund balance of $4,342.52. A total of $57,971 was given back to District II member schools as a result of participation in boys’ and girls’ basketball playoffs as well as football playoffs. We currently have $60,978.41 in our checking account, $56,629.50 in our PIAA corporate account, and $11,549.63 in a Certificate of Deposit.
A motion was made by Gerald Bavitz (AD- Nanticoke Area High School), seconded by Tom Wolfe (AD-North Pocono High School) to approve the Treasurer’s Report as submitted. All Ayes
ITEM 5 Jim Higgins presented the Credentials Report. There are 36 High Schools and 34 Junior High Schools present at today’s meeting.
ITEM 6 COMMITTEE REPORTS:
a) Tennis (Joe Lalli): Information on the upcoming District Boys’ Playoffs was available at the sign in table. Details of all of the deadlines, dates of competition and venues are located on the web page and in the handout distributed at today’s meeting.
b) Volleyball (Maureen Williams): The format for the boys’ tournament is available at the sign in desk and on the web page. The tournament will have 8 “AA” playoff spots available. This year there is also a “AAA” classification and our representative will participate in the District XI playoffs.
c) Track and Field (Danielle Adams): Information for the championships is available in today’s handout as well as on the web page. Please pay attention to all deadlines, dates for meetings and competitions. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact Danielle via email (address available on web page).
d) Baseball (Frank Majikes): It was announced that PNC Stadium will be available for district championship games. Information was distributed and will be available on the web page – please remember that the deadline for non-participation notification is May 5th – registered letters to that affect must be sent to Frank.
e) Softball (Dino Galella): Information was distributed and will be available on the web page – please remember that the deadline for non-participation notification is May 5th– registered letters to that affect must be sent to Dino.
f) Field Hockey (Tom Finan): The format for next fall’s championships will be similar to this year’s format.
g) Swimming (Jim Higgins): We will once again utilize the 8 lane pool at the Wilkes-Barre CYC as the site for next year’s championships. There will be standards qualifying for the District Championships next year – details will be forthcoming in the fall.
h) Wrestling (Rich Walton): Rich commented on the quality of this year’s tournaments and the success that followed at the state level competition.
i) Soccer (Jay Starnes): The format for the spring girls’ championships is available at the sign in desk and on the web page.
n) Officials (Joe Lalli & Maureen Williams): District II was complimented on the number of officials who worked state championship events this season in all of the various sports championships.
o) Eligibility (Mike Ognosky): Member schools continue to be very timely and cooperative in the filing of eligibility rosters.
ITEM 7 Chairman Majikes introduced Brad Cashman, Executive Director of the PIAA. Brad thanked our four representatives on the State Board for their continued service (Joe Lalli, Frank Majikes, Mike Costanza and Maureen Williams). Brad then offered comments on the following proposed Amendment changes which will be voted on by member schools today:
§ Proposed Amendment Number 1 is to adopt a new Article VIII, REGIONAL PANELS, of the PIAA Constitution, to permit the establishment of regional panels, at the discretion of two or more contiguous PIAA District Committees, to address matters involving those districts, effective July 1, 2008. High School Members 30 Ayes, 6 Nays; Junior High School Members 28 Ayes, 6 Nays.
§ Proposed Amendment Number 2 is to amend Article XI, AMENDMENTS, Section 2, Proposed Amendments, of the Constitution, to (1) provide for more consistency in the amendment process; and, (2) require proposed amendments to the PIAA Constitution, which must be first approved by the PIAA Board of Directors, be approved by that body by a vote of two-thirds, prior to submission to the membership, effective July 1, 2008. High School Members 35 Ayes, 1 Nay; Junior High Members 31 Ayes, 3 Nays.
Brad Cashman also addressed a number of other timely and pertinent issues for the body:
§ Discussed the PIAA District VI/WPIAL Committee proposed amendment to Article VI, TRANSFERS, RESIDENCE, AND RECRUITING, of the PIAA By-Laws.
§ Further reduction in overlap between the current 16 weekend combined football regular season and postseason and the initial weeks of the winter sports’ regular season.
§ Article V, HEALTH, amendment to (1) replace the PIAA authorized medical examiner’s certificate and the Pennsylvania Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation form with the PIAA Comprehensive Initial Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation (CIPPE) form; and (2) provide for the CIPE to be performed no earlier than June 1st and be effective, regardless of when performed during the school year, until the next May 31st, both effective June 1, 2008.
§ National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) approval to experiment with NFHS Soccer Rule 12-8-1, which provides for a five (5) minutes sit out following the issuance of a yellow card to a player without the opportunity for the player’s Team to substitute for the player, effective July 1, 2008.
Chairman Majikes then introduced Melissa Mertz, PIAA Assistant Executive Director, who commented on a number of 2008-2009 PIAA By-Law Amendment Highlights including:
§ Article 1, AGE, to clarify the means by which the age of a student is determined as it relates to PIAA eligibility;
§ Article III, ATTENDANCE, to clarify that only requests from PIAA member schools for approval of Cooperative Sponsorship of a Sport will be considered by the Board of Directors;
§ Article VI, FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, to account for students transferring from foreign jurisdictions but who do not meet the criteria for Foreign Exchange Students or International Students;
§ Article VIII, PERIOD OF PARTICIPATION, to clarify that a PIAA District may waiver no more than two semesters;
§ Article IX, REPRESENTATION, to provide for an automatic waiver of the 50 % rule if a school schedules at least 50 % of the maximum number of regular season contests in a sport but is only able to participate in at lease 33.3 % of the maximum number permitted;
§ Article XIII, PENALTIES, to provide for appeals of disqualifications, under certain, very limited conditions;
§ Article XIV, COACHES, to clarify that the appointment of a representative of a coaching staff to attend an annual mandatory rules interpretation meeting, and receive credit for such attendance, is only permitted in situations where the head coach of the Team has not yet been employed, appointed, or otherwise designated by the school district;
Melissa also discussed the upcoming 2008 NFHS National Student Leadership Conference from Thursday, July 17th through Sunday, July 20th in Indianapolis, Indiana. Information is provided on the PIAA webpage for interested students.
ITEM 7 OLD BUSINESS – There was no old business conducted at today’s meeting.
ITEM 8 NEW BUSINESS – The following new business items were conducted:
Phil Latinski entertained motions for the election of officers.
A motion was made by Frank Parra (AD- Wyoming Area) and
seconded by Al Holtzer (AD – Delaware Valley) that the present committee members be retained. All Ayes
A motion was made by Jack Kelly (AD-Dunmore), seconded by Tim Honeywell (AD- Berwick) that the nominations be closed. All Ayes
The current committee members will be retained as presently constituted.
ITEM 9 A motion was made by Chuck Alexander (AD-Honesdale), seconded by Sandy Mackay (AD-Wyoming Valley West) to adjourn. All Ayes
Meeting was adjourned at 5:46 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Ognosky
Mike Ognosky
District 2 Secretary