Last night at the work session of the Tyrone Area School Board of Directors, the annual Powderpuff Football game received a reprieve from the Board.
\nThe Board had concerns after last year\u2019s game. There was a fight early in the game, and late in the game there was a girl who suffered a concussion and missed the District playoffs in volleyball.
\n\u201cWe had some problems last year,\u201d said Student Activities chairperson Brian Bressler. \u201cWe are concerned about the injuries that are suffered.\u201d
\nCraig Kilmer represented the Tyrone BPOE Elks Lodge #212 at the meeting and said the Elks are willing to work with the Board to make the Powderpuff game a success.
\n\u201cThe Powderpuff game goes back a number of years,\u201d said Kilmer. \u201cIt isn\u2019t intended to be a contact game. We are asking the Board to extend for at least one more year. In the history, we have had one or two small incidents, but overall there haven\u2019t been that many problems.\u201d
\nTo be a part of the game, students sign waivers to cover the Elks and the School District from lawsuits.
\n\u201cThe bottom line of the game, it brings a lot of spirit for the junior and senior classes,\u201d said Kilmer. \u201cThe proceeds from the game fund the Ellenberger Football Scholarship and also funds the Elks Drug and Alcohol Awareness program. We are asking to work with you and give the game one more shot.\u201d
\nTyrone Athletic Director Tony Yaniello spoke of the concerns of some of his coaches.
\n\u201cThe time the game is played is one of the concerns of our coaches,\u201d said Yaniello. \u201cIt is right before the District playoffs in volleyball, District tennis and the District cross country meet. Last year, a girl missed the volleyball playoffs because of a concussion she received in the game. Two or three years ago a girl was injured and missed the cross country District championships.\u201d
\nAfter discussion between the Elks representatives (Kilmer and Steve Lucas) and the Board, the two sides came to an agreement.
\nThe game will continue with adult supervision at practices and on the sidelines during the game, work with the Athletic Director to find a time for the game to not take away from the District playoffs and get outside PIAA officials to referee the game.
\nBoard vice-president Jim Crawford asked for a consensus of the Board and the members approved the game continuing.
\nThe Board reviewed Revision Six of the Drug and Alcohol Testing policy and again will be making revisions.
\nThe point of discussion was about the first offense.
\nAccording to revision six of the policy, \u201cThe student participant with a first offense will be suspended from participation and attendance until a negative test is achieved. A student with a positive test result may request on the next random date or schedule his or her own test with District approved vendor at his or her own expense. However, that testing will follow school guidelines. Sufficient time should be given between tests for the body to cleanse itself. If a succeeding test following the confirmation test is also deemed positive, this will be considered a second offense.\u201d
\nBoard member Becky Emenhiser voiced concern over this part of the policy.
\n\u201cSome of the drugs the kids are doing is out of the system in 12-48 hours,\u201d said Emenhiser. \u201cThere is a possibility to test positive one day come back two days later test again and be negative and be reinstated right away. There needs to be some sort of penalty for a positive test.\u201d
\nBoard Member Pete Dutrow, said that students would lose more privileges by failing classes than failing a drug test.
\n\u201cIf you fail in the classroom, you are suspended from participating in an sport for 15 school days,\u201d Dutrow said. \u201cThat should be the minimum for a first offense.\u201d
\nThe Board is also looking into the possibility of testing any day of the week.
\n\u201cWe are adding that to revision seven,\u201d said Dr. William Miller, Superintendent of Schools. \u201cWe are going to do everything we can do to make this policy air tight. If there is an activity that participates on a Saturday or Sunday, there is the chance of being tested. We want to help rehabilitate the students but there needs to be a punitive side to the policy.\u201d
\nRevision seven will appear Tuesday at the regular session of the Tyrone School Board.
\nThe Board also discussed the School Crossing Guard issue. They will formally approve a request to the Snyder Township Supervisors at next week\u2019s Board Meeting and the Crossing guard issue will be resolved.
\nThe Board will hold its regular meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Elementary School Board room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night at the work session of the Tyrone Area School Board of Directors, the annual Powderpuff Football game received a reprieve from the Board. The Board had concerns after last year\u2019s game. There was a fight early in the game, and late in the game there was a girl who suffered a concussion and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}