Coaches, theater advisors will be paid

In line with many school districts across the state and region, Cloquet school board members voted unanimously Monday to pay all spring coaches and activity advisors their full pay — despite the fact that there will be no spring sports season or plays or academic competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the switch to distance learning by all Minnesota schools.

Cloquet activities director Paul Riess submitted a thorough report to the board during the work session Monday, noting that 79 percent of schools had chosen to pay coaches in full by the end of April.

“That includes most of the local schools, like Carlton, Esko, Proctor, Hermantown and Duluth,” he said, adding that only Superior had elected to pay coaches a percentage of their expected salaries.

The cost of paying the spring coaches and advisors contracts for Cloquet is $67,994. Riess pointed out that the district budgets for coaches pay and other spring sport expenses — and they’re saving approximately $50,000 because they don’t have to pay for transportation, game officials and overnight stays at tournaments.

The Minnesota State High School League recommended paying coaches in full, and so did Riess. The AD talked about coaches running summer camps for added training and youth players, golf coaches getting certified each year to drive school vans to events, coaches scheduling games and officials, ordering equipment and more … all before the season even starts.

“It’s a year-round job now for coaching,” he said. “The games and practices, that’s the fun part.”

Cloquet had ceased all practices within a couple days of the governor’s announcement March 15 that school districts should close March 18-27 to plan for distance learning. However, coaches have continued to communicate with players, sharing workout ideas and checking in with students to make sure they were holding up emotionally.

Superintendent Michael Cary said he also reached out to the district’s attorney to find out if there were any procedural issues. The attorney said that head coach jobs that were not paid in full would have to be formally terminated and the coaches would have the opportunity to have a hearing in front of the board if they wanted.

Riess noted that spring play practices started Feb. 11, and softball, track and baseball practices began on March 9. Boys tennis and boys and girls golf had not started practice, nor had the trapshooting team, but all had held preseason meetings for interested students.

Although some board members had previously debated paying coaching staff in full, there was little argument during Monday’s meeting.

Previous letter winners and all seniors will still letter in their spring sport, Riess said.

In other matters Monday, school board members took the following actions:

• Passed a motion to allow students to keep school-issued laptop computers or iPads over the summer, as recommended by the Minnesota Department of Education. Exceptions are students who are not returning to the district next year or families that are not comfortable with being responsible for the device over the summer.

• Denied a motion to give child care providers at Li’l Lumberjacks, Li’l Thunder and Kids Corner a raise a month early, citing worries about setting a precedent. “I fully agree that all of our employees are doing really good work,” said board chair Ted Lammi. “I think to single out someone for an early pay increase might be setting a precedent. They are doing good work, but that’s what I expect.” Board members Duane Buytaert and Dave Battaglia voted against the motion.