Wrenshall, Carlton co-op football remains unsettled

Spirits were high as the Carlton school board meeting kicked off Monday, as parents and staff, along with students from both Carlton and Wrenshall, packed into the high school library for a meeting expected to bring a decision on whether or not to co-op with Wrenshall for football beginning this fall.

In the end, there was no definitive decision in Carlton.

Minutes before the Carlton meeting started, the Wrenshall school board approved moving ahead with the cooperative agreement. There was little discussion about it, as the board had been briefed the week before by Wrenshall coach and activities director Jeremy Zywicki. He was at the meeting Monday and said Wrenshall, as the number of participants now stands, will not be able to field a varsity or junior varsity team in the fall.

Carlton will not have enough kids for a junior high team.

Before the vote Monday, Wrenshall board members expressed their desire to see a long-term agreement so athletes and the districts can plan for the future. In the end, they voted unanimously to move forward with the idea of pairing with Carlton, with details to be cleared up in further negotiations.

The vote in Carlton ended up being almost a mirror opposite, with Carlton board members passing a resolution unanimously that directed district administration to negotiate with Wrenshall to come up with more details, promising a vote on the cooperative agreement only after they got more answers.

An initial motion to simply agree to a cooperative football team failed by a vote of 4-2 in Carlton ("no" votes from LaRae Lehto, Sue Karp, Sam Ojibway and Tim Hagenah and "yes" votes by Jennifer Chmielewski and Ann Gustafson).

Several district residents addressed the Carlton board during the public comment portion of the meeting, before the vote.

Parent Rachel Swanson told the board she was originally against the co-op because the team will have to play a season of mostly nine-man games already set into the schedule but then play in the 11-man playoffs. She changed her mind at the Carlton football informational meeting last week.

She said the coaches and athletic directors seemed to have given the issue a lot of thought and planning, that this year's season was plagued by injuries, and that it "would be wonderful to have enough players to fill all the positions safely next year."

"If the kids and coaches are behind it, then why wouldn't we do it," Swanson said. "I'm hoping you'll be able to vote on it tonight. We have the facts - let's get this decided so they can figure out summer and coaches and nobody has to be in limbo. We have the chance to be the bigger person here."

"Let's model for our children compassion and rationality in a world that is increasingly uncaring and divisive," she said.

Carlton head football coach Jason Crane urged the board to look at the numbers and understand that while Wrenshall is in need now, Carlton will need help in a few years.

"There is some urgency, so I hope you can make a decision tonight," he said.

Superintendent Gwen Carman talked about the positives of a shared football program but stressed that it is not the same as consolidating.

"As a board you need to have a separate conversation about long-term options for district," she said, pointing out that the board has a chart with nine long-term options they hope to explore. "We are still a district, but we're trying to provide a football program."

Activities director Ben Midge said he had reached out to Cloquet district officials about sending Carlton's junior high students there, but was told it would take all grades or none.

"And there would be additional costs, because it's not our costs, it's their costs," Midge told the board, noting that Cloquet plays in Class AAAA and currently has plenty of kids out for the program.

Midge steered the board back toward Wrenshall, saying the latest date to decide is 30 days before the season started. He advised against waiting too long.

"It's not fair to string Wrenshall along," he said, "and the coaches and the kids are eager to get summer activities going." He said the chances of scheduling any 11-man games will diminish the longer the board takes to make a decision.

Before any motions were made on the subject of the football team, each Carlton school board member shared his or her thoughts.

Karp said she saw a lot of enthusiasm at the meeting the week before but had also heard from parents worried about seniors losing their spots and moving up a level to 11-man. She talked about asking for the boys to raise their hands at the meeting last week if they were in favor - and every single one of them put his hand up.

"I heard ADs and coaches were in favor and I hope the boys were knowing what they were voting for when they said they were in favor," Karp said, suggesting a year or more to consider a co-op.

"But my heart breaks for Wrenshall, who couldn't play, and I know some of you boys might even be friends with each other," she said.

Karp said she was on the fence but leaning toward cooperating, but wanted more information and numbers.

Hagenah also stressed wanting more information, but took it even further. He wanted the AD to look at numbers in elementary school, to ensure the health of a co-op team for the long term. He questioned the number of coaches and the cost for new uniforms.

"I know the boys raised their hands," Hagenah said. "But I've gotten emails from parents who feel we're pulling the rug out from beneath the seniors just to suit Wrenshall."

Board member Sam Ojibwe agreed that more information is needed, but stressed multiple times that he was not against the idea of a cooperative football team. He also suggested they reach out to the Fond du Lac Ojibwe school, which used to have a football team and might still have kids who want to play.

"I have many questions," he said. "I support exploring the ideas. I want to explore a formal agreement we take a look at. I'm not comfortable blindly saying yes."

Both Gustafson and Chmielewski strongly favored a cooperative team.

"I think it's worth a shot," Gustafson said. "I think we'd be stupid not to take it. Especially being that we are three miles away. We aren't just doing it for them. It's also for our JV who haven't had the opportunity to play for three years. It's a mutually beneficial agreement."

Chair Lehto said she could see both sides.

"It's a tough spot for a board to be in," she said. "I'm not hearing full consensus."

After passing the vote to explore the idea further, board members said they would consider calling a special meeting before the regular May meeting to consider a vote on a co-op.

The energy and most of the people in attendance left the room after the football vote.

Coach Crane stayed. "I'm optimistic about a quick proposal to meet the board's demands," he said. "I hope they can decide soon - we can't move forward until Carlton approves it."