Washtucna cooperative with LRS for football voted down at school board

Lind-Ritzville Athletic Director Greg Whitmore presented to the Lind and Ritzville School Boards on April 27 regarding the Washtucna School District’s interest in athletically entering into a cooperative agreement for the upcoming football season.

The LaCrosse-Washtucna/Kahlotus football team has been dissolved for the 2015 season due to lack of athletes and safety concerns.

Whitmore was approached by the Washtucna School District to present the Lind and Ritzville boards with a temporary agreement to allow an estimated four students to travel to Ritzville to participate in football.

The proposition stirred a large discussion throughout both boards, as school board directors had concerns about how temporary the agreement would be and the additional workload that would be added to Lind-Ritzville administrators.

The discussion revolved around the concern for adding more work for the athletic director, as well as the business manager, when they already have a full schedule.

Board members expressed the desire to provide all students with a chance to participate in athletics, but believed academics should be the priority.

While the request was specifically for athletes to participate in football, school board members shared the belief that Washtucna could be asking for a full athletic cooperative in the future. This led to discussion regarding the opportunity to have a trial run to see how the programs and schools could work together, since the contract was only temporary.

When it came to a vote, the Ritzville School Board approved the contract with Scott Carruth, Chris Koch and Greg Galbreath in favor, and Layne Iltz and Marci Miller opposed.

The Lind School Board motion failed with only Annie Trunkle-Smart and Janie Melcher voting in favor, with Rena Wahl, Adam Labes and Bev Kulm opposed.

Superintendent Rob Roettger explained since Lind-Ritzville is already in a cooperative, when the motion does not pass on one side, the motion fails.

The Sprague School Board was notified of the decision, but would still be discussing it at their school board meeting.