A special board meeting was conducted at Huntley Project with Superintendent Mark Wandle addressing the board in regards to an open gym violation that was reported to the Montana High School Association (MHSA). According to Supt. Wandle, unnamed sources reported that Huntley Project was running open gyms for basketball illegally and violating how open gyms should be conducted.
When MHSA contacted Huntley Project and asked about the situation, Huntley Project Administration confirmed what was being done but the administration was under the assumption that everything was being done correctly per MHSA rules. So, because Huntley Project was up front about how their open gym times and policies were being conducted, MHSA considered it as self-reporting and worked with Huntley Project to address the situation with MHSA approval. Wandle told the board he reached out to the MHSA to confirm and follow up in regards to the situation and violation.
Because there were no official reports or complaints when Huntley Project openly admitted to the infractions, that is when MHSA concluded it as a “self-report.”
Wandle explained to the standing room only meeting of about 75 people and board members, “I asked if Coach Morales did anything wrong; it wasn’t Coach Morales directly at which time I was told as the head of the program she is the one who is suspended, as she is the figurehead of the program.” Wandle reiterated that these punishments are not connected to direct coaching violations by Morales, personally.
As a consequence, Mandy Morales, the new basketball head coach for the Huntley Project Lady Red Devils will miss the first four games because of the violation, even though apparently, she was not directly doing it herself, but she was the person that the violation fell upon. She will continue to coach during the scheduled gym practice times, just miss the first four games of which her assistant coaches will coach the team. In addition to informing the Board of the suspension of Mandy Morales, Supt. Mark Wandle also informed the board that Athletic Director Tim Bastian will also miss four games as well.
Wandle informed the board that the administration and staff have developed a communication plan that will become the standard for improving communication with weekly meetings, being consistent for each program at Huntley Project Schools, not just basketball so that it doesn’t happen again.
Wandle was asked who reported the violation or turned in Huntley Project in regards to the violation of which Wandle admitted that it was done and regardless of who reported it, we will take responsibility and own up to it and move forward. “We weren’t trying to hide anything,” he said.
The next order of business was discussing winter sports participation numbers and bringing up the 8th graders to determine high school eligibility and play with the high school due to low number of athletes that came out for girls’ basketball this year.
Wandle recommended to the board that, “we do not allow the 8th grade girls to move up into high school programs.” Wandle said his basis for not wanting to move the girls up is maturity levels, playing time, locker-room logistics and past concerns regarding mixing the ages in the past, with emphasis on the fact that it’s necessary to build up a program. “Go out, and get the high school students.”
There are currently 11 girl basketball players for the 2021-2022 basketball season which really is not enough to fill a full varsity and junior varsity team as there are MHSA restrictions for those that play varsity and jr. varsity. However, last year, a “Covid” year, they had twenty-two players with only three of those graduating.
“The Board’s approval does matter. We keep becoming more and more divided on things. These guys deserve our best effort. I know some of you won’t agree with me on that, and I applaud you, and I look forward to hearing your opinions.” said, Wandle.
During discussion, parent Dusty Kautz addressed the board and said, “You guys hired Mandy to build a program. So, in my opinion, is if she feels she needs the 8th graders to help build that program, I think that we should stand behind her and support her decision to bring them up.”
Community member Ludell Heaton was the only one present at the meeting who addressed the board and opposed the idea of bringing up the 8th graders, supporting Supt. Wandle’s decision not to allow 8th graders to play high school basketball. She said, “There is a reason that there were twenty-two girls last year and eleven this year; the attitude behavior and language of a coach can make it so no one wants to play for them. Most 8th grade girls are not physically capable of playing in a season-long situation where their 100 lbs. goes up against 150 lb. jr. or sr. There is proof of this, and it happens routinely to younger players. We should be grateful that the 8th graders are coming along and will be playing for us in twelve months in a more mature and capable level.”
Jaime Lofing began her comment and response to the board, “I don’t know, but in reply to Ludell specifically, there is also a coach whose behavior could be considered bullying. She excludes girls who have not been with her program from the very beginning, and has, and I have a first-hand account, from a student” …. At which time board Chairman Tim Ley interjected over Lofing reminding her that this topic is in regard to 8th grade participation in basketball. Jaime reiterated by stating, “[Her] comment was about a bad attitude about numbers (referring to Heaton’s statement).
Ley said, “This is a discussion point, not an argument, does that makes sense?”
Lofing then says, “It does but I guess I don’t understand how, why one person can……”
Ley reinforced the focus of the item on the agenda, “We don’t want this to be an argument from public to public,” reminded the Board Chairman respectfully.
Lofing took up her topic again and continued rephrasing, “The numbers are being hurt because we have other coaches on our campus who pretty much tell the girls they cannot go out for that other sport because they could injure themselves, and if they like that sport better they probably should save themselves so they can get college scholarships in that sport, and that can be confirmed through the mouths of children. So, that is also why our basketball numbers are at eleven.” Silence and an air of discomfort rolled around the audience for a moment or two but the point was made.
Parent Christy Gerdes addressed the board and said, “I discussed this decision at length with my daughter… I spoke to a friend of mine whose daughter plays at a smaller school and her daughter had nothing but good things to say about it, and that the upper classmen were great with them; they gained a lot of experience and had a really tight team.”
Parent Jerry Simonson read a statement and addressed the board that he “is supportive of the program. As a parent, I support my daughter’s desire to play high school basketball for Coach Morales and her staff and also for her teammates. That support allowing the 8th grade players to play is per the MHSA rules allowing this. I recognize that not all 8thgraders would not move up but if not, they will have that opportunity in 12 months. But this is something allowed by MHSA rules.” He continued to address the board with other qualities and supportive material in his statement as Board Chairman Tim Ley, cut him off as his statement was over the two- minute limit. Another parent in the audience said that Jerry could use his time so Chairman Ley graciously allowed him to finish his statement.
Per MHSA petition process and for informational purposes, the Petition for Participation of Eighth Grade Students is extensive, yet not overly complicated. It states you must have eight basketball players and can only field a JV and Varsity team, no C squad. Three JV and five Varsity. What if numbers continue to fall? It’s a slippery slope. Then all students need to be verified using school records only, hopefully but not required students with strong academic standing. Then the high school needs to file a petition that each student lives within the attendance area of the school filing OR has been attending the district’s middle school at the beginning of seventh grade and all other school age siblings are attending school in that district. The Administrator is responsible for these verifications, and finally the student cannot compete concurrently on the high school team and the junior high team in the same sport. If an eighth grader quits the high school team, she can return to 8th grade participation but cannot compete again on a high school level in that sport.
Board member Brooke Logan moved to not allow Huntley Project 8th grade students to participate in the High School Girls’ Basketball program. Travis Kamp seconded the motion.
On call for a vote, the motion was approved 4-1 to not allow the 8th grade girls to move up into High School Programs with Clint Johannes against the motion. Just like that with the utmost respect and maturity this topic was now over. Girls walked to their parents in tears, and there were parents visibly moved by the decision.
In other district news, the board hired Marissa Johnson as an assistant High School Girls’ Basketball Coach for the 21-22 season. They also hired Rick Ward as an Assistant Boys’ Basketball Coach for the 21-22 season. The board also hired Adora Henderson as the Winter High School Cheer Coach for the 21-22 season.
