Meeting was convened at 4:15 p.m. by Chairman Majikes

ITEM 1            Chairman Majikes called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. 

                        Absent but accounted for: Tom Jenkins, Frank Victor, Frank Galicki, Jim Higgins, Don Kanavy, Joe Lalli, Ray Lowery, Tony Rusnak, RossScarantino

                        Advisors Present:  Phil Latinski

ITEM 2            A motion was made by Jim Sabatini, seconded by Jim Marcks, to approve the minutes of the November 16, 2005 meeting.  All Ayes

ITEM 3            The treasurer’s report was waived in Frank Victor’s absence.  Frank will present a complete review of the Fall Championship Playoff financial status at the next regular meeting.

ITEM 4            Chairman Majikes reviewed for those committee members present the details of the recent hearing involving District IX (Clarion Area/Clarion-Limestone) and District II (Lake-Lehman) that was held in front of the District II Committee.  The 8 member panel voted 5-3 that the student in question be eligible immediately for wrestling.  That decision was appealed to the PIAA State Office by Clarion Area/Clarion-Limestone and the 6 member appeals panel voted 5-1 that the Lake-Lehman student was ineligible for wrestling for the 2005-06 season.  Previous matches wrestled this season by said student would result in no penalty to the wrestler or Lake-Lehman.   

ITEM 5            Chairman Majikes reviewed the 2006-07 and 2007-08 enrollment

classifications for football and basketball.  One correction was made in that Class A football will have 7 District II member schools (not the 8 as reported) and 15 Class AA member schools (not the 14 as reported). 

ITEM 6            Following a presentation on behalf of the District Wrestling Committee, a motion was made by Maureen Williams, seconded by Tom Finan, to establish a fees increase, effective with the 2006 Championships, for workers and officials at the District II Junior High Wrestling Championships as submitted.  All Ayes

ITEM 7Chairman Majikes reviewed the events leading to the scheduling and playing of a regular PIAA girls’ basketball 2005-06 contest between two District II member schools, Susquehanna and Blue Ridge, played on December 1, 2005 – a day prior to the allowable first PIAA playing date of Friday, December 2, 2005.  Included in the material were written submissions from the High School Principal and Athletic Director of each member school.

Following discussion, a motion was made by Phil Cappellini, seconded by Mike Costanza, that each member school’s girls basketball program be placed on one year probation with conditions that limit each program to 23 girls’ basketball games in the 2006-07 season (one below the allowable 24) and that the game eliminated not be a game that could affect either league or district seeding for the District II girls’ basketball playoffs.  Furthermore, each member school must file a complete report on actions taken to eliminate such a situation in the future and that report must by filed by the High School Principal with Chairman Majikes prior to March 15, 2006.   All Ayes

ITEM 8            Chairman Majikes reviewed an incident at a Christmas Holiday Tournament that may require action on the part of the District II Committee.  The incident involved an active PIAA Basketball Official (although not involved as an official in the incident in question) and a coach of a member District II school immediately following a boys’ basketball contest.  Chairman Majikes will keep the committee updated on the situation should it necessitate involvement on the part of the committee in the future. 

ITEM 9            A motion was made by Jim Sabatini, seconded by Bob Okrasinski, to approve the eligibility of Michael Pivovarnick, Bishop Hannan to Lakeland, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers and Residence, Section 8, principal to principal sign off.  All required paperwork has been submitted and in order.  All Ayes

ITEM 10          Chairman Majikes reported that at today’s Wyoming Valley Conference meeting, St. Michael’s of Hoban Heights has been accepted into the 2006-07 WVC Boys’ Basketball League and West Side Tech has been accepted into the 2006-07 WVC Baseball and Softball Leagues.

ITEM 11          Chairman Majikes presented a letter from State Representative Kerry A. Benninghoff, 171st Legislative District, requesting an update from the PIAA State Office on the PIAA policy stance on the use of alcohol, tobacco, illegal narcotics, and performance enhancing drugs by student-athletes in PIAA member schools.  Chairman Majikes also included the response to that letter by Brad Cashman, PIAA Executive Director, in which he explains that each member school’s School Board, is required by Act 93 of 1989 to prescribe, adopt, and enforce rules and regulations to prohibit the use of anabolic steroids, except for a valid medical purpose, by any student involved in school-related activities.  Furthermore, the PIAA does not mandate penalties for the use of tobacco, alcohol or illegal narcotics as that is left to the code of conduct that is adopted at the local level by each school.

ITEM 12          Chairman Majikes updated the committee on the formats for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 state football and basketball playoffs.  In football, District II will operate its own tournaments in Class A, AA and AAA.  In Class AAAA, District II will compete in an 8 team subregional involving schools from District II, IV and XI.  In basketball, he pointed out to the committee that District II will have two state qualifiers in Class A, three state qualifiers in Class AA and AAA, and one state qualifier from the subregional involving Districts II and IV. 

ITEM 13          Chairman Majikes reviewed a request submitted by the District II Soccer Committee to conduct a Junior High District II Coed Soccer Championship game between the conference representatives of the Wyoming Valley and Lackawanna Soccer Leagues to begin at the conclusion of the 2006 Fall Coed Soccer season.   The request was discussed by members present and tabled.

ITEM 14          Chairman Majikes reviewed a request by Service Electric Cable Company to waive a fee for the televising of any first round District II playoff basketball games aired by the Company.  Following discussion, the request was tabled.

ITEM 15          Chairman Majikes led a discussion on the various equipment and uniform changes presented by the National Federation that will be put in place over the next three years through 2008-09.  Athletic Directors may review those proposed changes on the National Federation website which is linked to the PIAA website at www.piaa.org.

ITEM 16          Chairman Majikes reviewed the remaining PIAA District II Committee meeting dates for the 2005-06 school year.  All members are reminded that the February 15th meeting time has been moved up by one half hour at the request of the committee members.  The remaining meeting schedule is as follows:

                        Wednesday, Feb. 15th              3:45 p.m.         Wilkes-Barre Vo-Tech

                        Wednesday, March 15th          4:15 p.m.         Wilkes-Barre Vo-Tech

                        Tuesday, April 11th                 4:15 p.m.         Wilkes-Barre Vo-Tech

                        Wednesday, April 19th            4:00 p.m.         Pittston CC (Business Mtg)

                        Wednesday, April 19th            6:00 p.m.         Pittston CC (Banquet)

                        Wednesday, May 17th              4:15 p.m.         To Be Announced

                        Wednesday, June 21st              TBA                To Be Announced

ITEM 17          A motion was made by Jim Marcks, seconded by Jim Sabatini, to adjourn the meeting.  All Ayes

Meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Ognosky

Mike Ognosky

District II Secretary