Cloquet adds coaches to boost safety, supervision

This spring, Cloquet school board members asked activities director Paul Riess to prepare a report showing the different sports teams, their participation numbers and the number of coaches for each team.

What that report revealed was significant disparity in coach-to-kid ratios, particularly in two sports: cross-country running and Nordic skiing, where the ratio of kids to coaches was nearly 50:1. On Monday, board members voted to partially correct that disparity.

Riess said he tried to compare numbers with similar-sized schools and couldn’t. The closest he came was Brainerd, which had 50 kids in its Nordic skiing program and five coaches.

“Nobody has the number of kids [we have] and only two coaches,” he told the board, adding that better staff-to-student ratios would increase safety.

According to numbers from Riess’ April report, track and field had the largest number of student-athletes with 120 kids participating in both boys’ and girls’ track, and five district coaches with a combined salary level of $21,553.

Cross-country running had the second-greatest number of student-athletes with 109 in grades 7-12, but only two district coaching positions and a combined salary of $6,331. Nordic skiing came in third with 88 student-athletes and two coaches at the same salary: $6,331 total.

Football took fourth with 81 student-athletes participating, but first place for coaching salaries, with six district coaching positions garnering a total of $23,636.

Those numbers don’t include volunteer coaches, who are unpaid. It also doesn’t account for coaches paid for through fundraising and donations. Riess said softball had five actual coaches, but only two of those were paid for by the school district with minimal salaries for the others paid through fundraising. Gate receipts were not part of the equation either.

All the other sports listed on the activity director’s report had between 15-41 student-athletes and at least two coaches, with the lowest pay for tennis at $5,511 for two coaches on each team.

On Monday, Cloquet school board members voted unanimously in favor of creating four additional assistant coaching positions — one each for cross-country and Nordic skiing, plus one each for softball and baseball — plus a Link Crew advisor’s position at the high school.

Board member Duane Buytaert asked about options to increase funding, which included increasing the price of individual tickets, family- and individual passes and student activity fees.

Riess said he sees an increase in passes and activity fees as impacting the same people: a student’s family.

Board member Dave Battaglia said some of the increases could be justified because of increased participation numbers.

Buytaert said raising activity fees seemed an easier option as the high school fees are cheaper than some youth sports.

“We provide transportation and highly qualified coaches,” Buyteart said. “Sports at the high school is a bargain.”

Activity fees are $170 for most high school sports, $205 for football and $250 for hockey with a family cap set at $510 per year. Students who qualify for reduced lunch costs pay half-price, while students who qualify for free lunches pay a quarter of the fee. There are also scholarship funds available, Riess said.

Board members asked the activities director to come back with some comparisons with other schools for the various fees and a recommendation.

In other matters Monday, the board:

• Approved its official newspaper as the Pine Journal for July through December 2018, and the Pine Knot News for January through June 2019.

• Gave superintendent Michael Cary and board chair Ted Lammi authority to discuss possibilities for other collaborative possibilities with Carlton. “To be clear, this is not a conversation about consolidation,” Cary said.

• Approved hiring Michelle Wick as a .8 Family and Consumer Science teacher at the middle school. Wick is working toward a Career and Technical Education certification at Bemidji State and no currently certified candidates applied.