The Winslow Unified School District governing board devoted part of its Aug. 20, meeting to questions over how coaching positions are approved and filled.

Board members discussed the hiring of a freshman volleyball coach at Winslow High School (WHS) after questions arose about whether the process was consistent. Board President Debbie Martinez said Samantha Sam, a candidate for freshman volleyball coach, had already been practicing with the team before board approval, which led to concerns from applicants, staff and the community. It was also brought up that Sam was invited by Ricky Greer, the athletic director for the school, to attend the beginning of the year coaching meeting only three days after the application was opened to the public and typically the position needs to be advertised for 10 days before they can make a selection. Another candidate, who coaches a different sport, reportedly saw Sam at the coaches’ meeting and withdrew their application for consideration after thinking the position was already filled.

Martinez said, “If it’s paid, then we would have to approve them. So it’s something we probably need to talk about during our work session, make sure that we’re consistent across the board.”

Martinez asked WHS Principal Sal Hernandez what the typical protocol was of hiring coaches and he told the board that typically the head coaches would go through the typical approval and application process then they would be free to pick their assistant coaches. However, it was later clarified that those assistant coaches still require board approval typically before coaching starts. Board Vice President Todd Wilcox noted separately that there were several liability concerns, including that the coach had brought an infant to practice, saying, “I think that is a liability if that child got hurt by one of the balls.” Board member Janice Childers said that they should also consider putting an age minimum for children of coaches attending practice because the 8-month-old could be put at risk if a volleyball were to injure them in some way.

The board ultimately approved Sam for this season so the team would not be left without leadership but agreed to revisit policy at their October work session. “We don’t want to leave them without a coach, so let’s approve it and then let’s talk about how we’re going to work it next time,” President Martinez said.

The meeting also saw concerns from teachers about the district’s leave compensation policy. During call to the public, eighth-grade history teacher Drew Luzier questioned why administrators receive full compensation for certain unused leave days while teachers do not. “Why is my time less valuable at $50 a day? … At best I get about 41% of [a substitute’s] pay as well.”

This puts the teachers in a position where they are incentivized to use as much of their leave as possible because they would be compensated for the full amount when used rather than $50 if left unused. This means that if teachers use more leave time then required because of the policy, the district is left paying the full rate to the teacher and around $110 for a substitute for the day.

Retired teacher Sharon Vasquez, who worked in the district for 30 years, described her experience cashing out her 80 unused days upon retirement. “When it came time to cash out the remainder, I was paid only $50 per day. After three decades of service that is what I’m worth. Teachers never see that full rate payout. Not for one single day.” Currently administrators are paid the full rate for the first 10 days a year that go unused and the remainder are paid out at $50 a day and Vasquez says making that a policy for all staff would be a gesture that would show teachers that administrators respect the time and effort they give in the classroom. At the time of the meeting no board members set the item for a future agenda item.

The board also moved through a series of approvals. Members unanimously adopted Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) policy advisories 909 through 914. The ASBA policy advisories adopted included updates to environmental and safety program requirements, rules governing discipline, suspension and dismissal of professional staff, and revised graduation requirements. Other changes addressed student health services, administering medicines to students and mandatory reporting of child abuse and child protection procedures. The policy advisories aim to keep the district compliant with everchanging state and federal law.

Business Manager Casey Hancock gave his report that the district spent 83% of last year’s budget and 4.6% of this year’s budget as of July 31. He explained that because the district is still paying a few bills that come from the previous years’ budget he felt it necessary to continue to give updates on it.

Superintendent Amber Martinez highlighted the arrival of two new travel buses, positive impacts from the new cell phone policy at the high school and a $3,000 donation from LCMC for sports physicals. She also noted an upcoming community presentation by a Holocaust survivor and updated the board on hiring progress for a preschool teacher from the Philippines.

Board members closed with comments of congratulations to new junior high principal Travis Dooley who took over after the tragic passing of former Principal Deb Lopez. The next regular board meeting for the district is canceled due to a ASBA law conference Sept. 3-5 and the board will meet again on Sept. 17. The conference travel expenses were also approved during the meeting.

In other business, the board:

* Authorized the following donations: Reading for Education donated $1,075 to Jefferson Elementary School, Allison Merrit donated $50 to the Jefferson Scholarship Fund and Little Colorado Medical Center donated $3,000 to the Winslow High School Athletic Department.

* Approved the following fundraisers: student council, Water at Howdy Dance; student council, shirt sales; Spiritline, E-Team sponsor; Spiritline, sports calendar and magnets sales; Spiritline, sports calendar sponsorships; Spiritline, cheer clinic; Spiritline, game day shirt sales; Spiritline, Goodwill fundraiser; Baseball Club, headwear fundraiser; Baseball Club, E-Team sponsor; FBLA, movie night with food at football field; FBLA, coffee shop; Anime Club, glow products at dances; Anime Club, ice cream sales at dances; Anime Club, ice cream sales on Thursdays; Class of 2026, senior parking spot extension; Class of 2026, friendship bracelets; Class of 2027, candy leis for senior nights; Class of 2028, kettle corn sales at home games; Volleyball Club, concessions at home games; Cross Country Club, Money Dolly fundraiser app; Cross Country Club, XC shirt sales; Winslow Junior High School Honor Society, Dance/concession; Honor Society, home game concessions.

* Approved the following hires: Kelbie Flake, substitute; Vernoica Passmore and Jocelyn Andrews as high needs paraprofessionals; and Jennifer Yazzie as junior varsity head volleyball coach.

* Approved the following resignations: Falisha Solinger, paraprofessional; Beulah Naha, paraprofessional high needs; ReBecca (Perez) Anderson, paraprofessional inclusion; and Steven McCabe, driver.

* Approved plan for Winslow Junior High athletic uniform purchasing.

* Approved an intergovernmental agreement with Vail Unified School District for use of the Beyond Textbooks program.