Meeting was convened at 3:15 p.m. by Chairman Majikes
ITEM 1 Chairman Majikes called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m.
Absent but accounted for: Danielle Adams, Joe Farrell, Al Holtzer, Bill King, Vito Quaglia, Pat Sheehan, Jay Starnes, Maureen Williams
Advisors Present: Don Rogers (District II Solicitor), Frank Victor (District II Treasurer).
Visitors Present: Fred Barletta (AD-Hazleton Area)
ITEM 2 Chairman Majikes introduced Fred Barletta (AD-Hazleton Area), who will become the new Athletic Director representative on the District II Committee, replacing Tim Honeywell. The Committee wishes Tim the best of luck on his new Athletic Director position in the Stroudsburg School District. Fred will officially replace Tim as of July 1, 2013.
ITEM 3 Chairman Majikes offered the Committee’s congratulations to Chris Thomas, Principal of Old Forge and District II Committee member, on his selection as the Home Plate Umpire for the 2013 PIAA AA Softball state championship game held on Friday, June 14th at Penn State.
ITEM 4 Chairman Majikes offered the Committee’s congratulations to Jay Starnes, Principal of Wallenpaupack Area High School and District II Committee member, on recently receiving his Doctorate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Congratulations, Dr. Starnes!
ITEM 5 A motion was made by Pat Patte, seconded by Frank Galicki, to approve the minutes of the April 17, 2013 District II Committee monthly meeting, and the April 24, 2013 District II Annual Business meeting as submitted. All Ayes
ITEM 6 District II Treasurer, Frank Victor, presented the District II Treasurer’s Report as of June 18 2013. The District currently has a balance in the account of $183,988.23, with $12, 537.65 in Certificates of Deposit, $66,404.17 in the Savings Account, an $171,450.58 in the Checking Account. This is an increase in the total fund balance of $69,855.56 from the opening 2012-2013 balance on July 1, 2012. A motion was made by Jim Higgins, seconded by Bill Schoen, to approve the Treasurer’s Report as submitted. All Ayes
ITEM 7 SPORTS REPORTS: The following sports’ reports were presented at today’s meeting:
· Baseball (Frank Majikes): The district recently completed a very successful District II Baseball Championship tournament held at PNC Field on Memorial Day. Frank offered his thanks to all involved who assisted at the championships on that day. He also congratulated both Old Forge (A) and Abington Heights (AAA) on their outstanding performances in the recently concluded PIAA State Championships. Both teams advanced to the State semifinal contest before being eliminated.
· Cheerleading (Chris Gegaris): Chris reported on the recently conducted Cheerleading Steering Committee meeting in which he participated as the District II representative. He reported that a coed division has been approved for the 2014 State Championships. Any team with one (1) or more boys will be classified in the coed division. The State Championships will also be held over a two day period this year. Also, it was agreed to research creating classifications in cheerleading beginning with the 2015 State Championships. As for the District II Championship schedule, Chris is hoping to schedule a meeting with school representatives on August 28th at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technology Center. The tentative plan is to hold this year’s District II Championships on November 17th. Final arrangements will be made following the August 28th meeting. .
· Football (Mike Ognosky): The District II Football Committee will be meeting shortly with officials from District IV and District XI to establish the format for the AAAA subregional tournament. A date and time will be finalized with discussion between the three District Chairpersons.
· Softball (Pat Patte): Congratulations to the Valley View Lady Cougars on their outstanding performance in the PIAA AAA Softball Championships culminating with their victory in the 2013 PIAA AAA State Championship game. He also congratulated Holy Redeemer on their fine performance in the state playoffs ass well, having advanced to the state semifinal game. Great season!
· Officials: A brief discussion was held regarding a proposal by Bill Schoen, District II Male Officials’ Representative. The proposal reads as follows – “In order to ensure leading officials from each conference are assigned to District II playoff contests in the sports of football, soccer, wrestling, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball it is proposed to assign officials from each conference on a 50/50 percentage representation in all District II semifinal and final contests. Determination of these assignments will be made by the District’s officials’ representatives in concert with each sports chairman and the District Chairman.” After a brief discussion, Chairman Majikes asked that all committee members review the proposal and be prepared to discuss it at the next District II Committee monthly meeting. Bill also offered his congratulations to the District II softball crew that worked the AA State Championship game and applauded them for their outstanding performance during the contest.
· Parents (Frank Majikes): The Committee asked that the District II Secretary post to the website an announcement regarding the opening for a parent representative on the District II Committee. The posting will run through July 15th and all interested candidates are asked to send a brief resume and cover letter to District II Chairman Frank Majikes.
· Public Relations and Corporate Sponsors: Bill Schoen reported that conversations with Geisinger are still underway regarding the potential for a corporate sponsorship. He will continue to update the committee on the progress of those discussions.
· School Board: Chairman Majikes announced that Christopher Jones, Board Member in the Old Forge School District, has been selected by PSBA to fill in the current Board Member position on the District II Committee for a two year term from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2015. The District II Committee wishes to thank Eric Emmerich, Elk Lake School Board member, for his terrific service to the District II Committee for the past two years.
ITEM 8 At 4:05 p.m., the District II Committee held a hearing regarding a series of events that occurred during the 2012-2013 Girls’ Varsity Basketball season. Representatives at the hearing from Holy Redeemer included Principal Anita Sirak, Athletic Director J. P. Aqualina, and Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach Chris Parker. At the request of Holy Redeemer, the meeting was open to the public. The following three items were the point of concern for the Committee:
· An incident at the girls’ varsity basketball game between Holy Redeemer and Northampton played on January 12 2013, with the Holy Redeemer team leaving the playing court prior to the end of the contest. Game reports from the officials, athletic directors and administrators from both schools were presented. Principal Sirak presented Holy Redeemer’s reaction to the situation, followed by questions from the committee members of all three Holy Redeemer representatives present at the hearing. As a result of the coaches’ actions, he was required to be suspended from the next contest by PIAA rules and regulations. Holy Redeemer officials that they met with the coach and required him to apologize to his team members for his actions in the game. No further suspensions were administered beyond the PIAA mandated suspension.
· An incident with a game official and a spectator at the Pittston Area-Holy Redeemer basketball game held on December 30, 2012. Game reports were reviewed and Holy Redeemer reported that they spoke to the Head Coach regarding the incident.
· An incident with a member of the girls’ coaching staff texting messages to game officials regarding their performance in a game. As a result of this situation, Holy Redeemer administration met with the Head Coach and the Assistant Coach in question has been removed from his position.
Following questions from the committee, the District II Committee moved to a closed session for deliberations at 5:35 p.m. Please note that Jim Higgins, District II Private Schools representative was not present at those deliberations, nor did he vote on the subsequent motions. Following deliberations, the Committee returned to public session at 5:50 p.m. and the following motions were made:
· In regard to the incident at the Holy Redeemer-Northampton game, a motion was made by Mike Ognosky, seconded by Chad Vinansky, to suspend the Varsity Girls’ Basketball Coach from the first regularly scheduled PIAA Contest of the 2013-2014 season and to place the Holy Redeemer Athletic program on a one year probation effective immediately with any further incidents subject to the review of the District II Committee. Furthermore, the administration of Holy Redeemer will submit to the District II Chairman a copy of the procedures to be put in place in order to ensure that any further incidents will not occur. That report is due to the Chairman prior to the beginning of the 2013-2014 PIAA fall sports’ season. All Ayes
· In regard to the incident at the Holy Redeemer-Pittston Area game, a motion was made by Mike Ognosky seconded by Bill Schoen, to ask the District II Chairman to continue the investigation into the incident and to report back to the District II Committee with the results. All Ayes
· In regard to the incident in which a member of the Girls’ Varsity Basketball Staff texted game officials regarding their performance, a motion was made by Mike Ognosky, seconded by Chad Vinansky, applauding the administration of Holy Redeemer for their quick and decisive actions in addressing the situation. All Ayes
ITEM 9At 6 p.m., the District II Committee held a hearing regarding the utilization of an ineligible player by Crestwood during the 2013 Boys’ Lacrosse season. The representative from Crestwood, Principal Chris Gegaris, asked that the hearing be closed to the public. The District II Committee then adjourned to a closed hearing and reviewed the written testimony submitted by Crestwood regarding the situation as well as the testimony presented by Principal Gegaris. Principal Gegaris, a District II Committee member, was excluded from the deliberations regarding the situation. At 6:25 p.m. the committee returned from the closed hearing, and the following was made:
· A motion was made by Mike Ognosky, seconded by Bill Schoen, requiring that Crestwood forfeit all Boys’ Lacrosse contests in which the ineligible player participated and places the Crestwood Athletic program on a one year probationary period effective immediately. Also, the Crestwood administration is be applauded in both reporting the incident to the District II Committee and for putting in place procedures to prevent its reoccurrence. All Ayes
ITEM 10 The Committee acted upon the following motions regarding student athlete eligibility:
· A motion was made by Mike Ognosky, seconded by Bill Schoen, to approve the immediate eligibility of Joseph Gavenonis Wyoming Valley West to Wyoming Area, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, Section 4, Principal to Principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Chad Vinansky, seconded by Mike Ognosky, to approve the immediate eligibility of Jeremy Seabridge, West Scranton to Wyoming Area, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, Section 4, Principal to Principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Bill Schoen, seconded by Chad Vinansky, to approve the immediate eligibility of Zachary Seabridge, West Scranton to Wyoming Area, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, Section 4, Principal to Principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Mike Ognosky, seconded by Chad Vinansky, to approve the immediate eligibility of Jamaar Trevon Taylor, GAR to Wyoming Valley West, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, Section 4, Principal to Principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Bill Schoen, seconded by Chad Vinansky, to approve the immediate eligibility of Kassandra Ferdinand, Hazleton Area to Crestwood, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, Section 4, Principal to Principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
ITEM 11 Chairman Majikes distributed materials to the District II Committee detailing the work currently being done by the PIAA 100th Year Anniversary & Celebration Committee. He provided minutes of the Committee’s May 22, 2013 meeting; the agenda for the upcoming June 19th meeting, and the press release announcing the creation of the 100thyear anniversary logo contest.
ITEM 12 Chairman Majikes reviewed the upcoming schedule for the Spring Steering Committees to be held on Thursday, June 20th and Friday, June 21st. He noted that the Private Schools and Sportsmanship Steering Committees have postponed their meetings.
ITEM 13 Chairman Majikes distributed information from “Fine Designs”, an apparel company interested in providing apparel for the Cross Country Championships scheduled in the fall. Chairman Majikes asked that committee members review the information and be prepared to discuss it at our next committee meeting.
ITEM 14 Chairman Majikes distributed a thank you note received from Wyoming Valley West Scholar-Athletes Maura Anistranski and Joe Butkiewicz thanking the District II Committee plaques that they received.
ITEM 15 Chairman Majikes briefly reviewed a number of items from the most recent Stare Board of Directors meeting –
· The Board voted to conduct a study regarding the utilization of e-vote for the Officials’ Representatives in the fall of 2013.
· The Board voted to research the creation of classifications in Cheerleading for the 2015 PIAA championships.
· The Board defeated the proposal for a ‘shut down’ period.
· The Board rescinded the responsibility of the Principal and Athletic Director to prohibit spectators from disconcerting free throw shooters at inter-district games. That will now remain status quo, with the responsibility remaining with the Game Manager, Principal and Athletic Director.
· The Board voted to prohibit spectators from removing their shirts at any inter-district PIAA contests.
· The Board authorized the Executive Director to compose a letter to PSBA regarding the appointment process utilized by PSBA in appointing the school board member to the District Committees.
· The Board, passed on a 2nd reading, the policy for change in numbers of Qualifiers, brackets (pairings).
· The Board, passed on a 2nd reading, the revised correction procedures to be utilized by member schools during the process f completing their school enrollment report.
ITEM 16 Chairman Majikes asked the members present to review the agreement utilized by District XI in regard to the televising of District XI Championship events. He asked that members of the Committee be prepared to discuss the potential for a District II agreement at the next meeting.
ITEM 17 A motion was made by Jim Higgins, seconded by Frank Galicki, to adjourn the meeting. All Ayes
Meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Ognosky
Mike Ognosky
District II Secretary