A handful of changes to sports discipline measures were approved during the July 11 meeting of the Riverdale School Board at the behest of athletic director Curt Thompson.

“There are a few changes I think we need to make and a few I hope we will make,” said Thompson before outlining his proposals.

Among those changes Thompson saw as necessary, language to prohibit the use of e-cigarettes and possession of drug paraphernalia will be added.

    The code of conduct policies will also add language that brings Riverdale into line with most other SWAL schools by prohibitting a student with a conduct violation during a sports season from being nominated for the all-conference team that same season. Thompson noted that while that issue had not occurred at Riverdale, there had been an istance within the conference where a student made the all-conference team after a disciplinary action.

     The disciplinary steps were also updated at Thompson's request after he expressed concern that the penalties were too severe and could end a high school sports career prematurely.

     "These kids are 14, 15, 16, 17 years old," Thompson stated. "They make mistakes. If we don't changed the second offense penalty, you them to the sport."

     The second offense prohibited a student from participating in the sport for a calendar year. Under Thompson's suggestion, that has been changed to a season. Suspension from a sport for a calendar year has been made a third offense with suspension for the remaninder of the student's high school career made the fourth offense penalty.

     And additional change adopted at Thompson's urging is the possibility for a student to reduce the first offense penatly from suspension from play for one third of the season to one fourth of the season, with the option of reducing the penalty through approved community service.

     Queries by school board member Stacy Hach on how penalties would be applied shoult the offense occur at the end of the sports season, Thompson noted that it would be applied to the next sports season the student participated in based on percentages. Thompson also clarified that students with play supspensionswere still required to participate in practices.

For the complete article, please see the July 14, 2016 issue of the Muscoda Progressive or Boscobel Dial.