School Board Approval Best Practices:
You have 4 excited sailors and now is the time to approach the school to get your
team to be official.
RESEARCH
Timing is everything when addressing a new activity. Check to see if your school
is preparing to ask for a levy. If so, they may instantly reject anything brought in
front of them to show the community that they are not extravagant. It doesn’t
matter if sailing is a Pay-to-Play sport. If your school is asking for money the last
thing they want to see is a news article on how they have included sailing as a
sport. Perception here is that it’s an exclusive sport.
Also, ask around to other parents about your Athletic Director if you don’t already
know them. Ask about how he/she operates and is he/she open to new ideas...
Basically, get a read on the person before pulling your facts together to present.
Same is true with the superintendent and board members. Maybe one board
member goes to your church or lives in your neighborhood. Board members are
typically elected so they should not snub you for presenting a new idea.
START WITH THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR (AD)
Start with your Athletic Director of your kid’s high school they go to or tracked to
go to. Present the School Administrator’s flyer. The flyer has a bulleted list of key
benefits of what sailing offers students and there is a biography on our coach.
One thing to point out to the AD, is the fact that sailing has a level playing field
and is a true co-ed sport. It’s nice to have diversity. Also, point out that there is
zero cost to the school. It is a Pay-to-Play sport. The host club holds the
insurance and liabilities as well as the equipment.
Keep the conversation up beat and to the point. Keep it easy and light. The AD
isn’t our decision maker. We want the to be our advocate. Ask the AD what the
next step is. Typically, the AD will want to run it past the Superintendent. Ask if
you could join the AD at that meeting to help answer any questions.
SET UP A MEETING THE SUPERINTENDANT/SCHOOL BOARD
Hopefully your meeting with the AD went well. Next you need to work with the
superintendent’s office. Ideally, you can get a meeting. If not, look for community
meetings. Our superintendent holds a coffee so that individuals can present
ideas without flooding his schedule. Nice part about our meeting is the school
board president was present. We were able to discuss sailing to both decision
makers at the same time. Most likely, you may have to present at a school board
meeting.
Before you go face to face with your decision makers, do some serious planning.
Figure out who presents well among your team. Is it better that it’s just the
parents or would it be nice to have the kids speak?
Topics to point out to the school board and superintendent are Jamie’s
credentials. He is STEM certified. School administrators look for that. Another
good selling point is that this sport created an equal playing ground by the way
the regattas are designed. Swapping boats means the best equipment doesn’t
always win. Also, the sport is geared towards girls and boys competing on equal
terms and that the sport is Pay-to-play, subsidized by a legitimate club holding its
own insurance helps reduce school risk.
Bulleted talking points are downloadable to help you get started.
APPROVED.
Now the first step is over. If the school district decision makers want to move
forward. Your team will most likely have a sit down meeting with a team made up
of athletic directors and other administrators. They will have a list of requirements
that they want to see you follow. For us, we needed a parent or teacher advisor.
That advisor needed to get a background check and must agree they will be
there at all events when the students of our districts are playing. Also, our coach
needs to have a background check and file paperwork with the school. They also
wanted to file as a 501(c)(3) and provide a profit/loss statement. If Hoover Sailing
Club didn’t already have their Foundation, we would need to join the booster
club. A hot topic for our AD was traveling students to away regattas and how to
handle over night accommodations. We informed them that most parents go to
each regatta traveling with their own students. Bottom-line, they want to be sure
the students their school name represents are safe and protected. Prepare
yourself for your meeting.
SCHOOL IS STILL SAYS NO.
You are just not getting anywhere with the school. If you can not get the school to
agree to accept Sailing as a club or activity, ask if you can advertise the sport
privately through their network. We really need the schools to help us recruit.
You, as a parent, can register your team even without the school’s approval.