By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
School administrators are a lot like referees: They are subjected to a steady stream of criticism and second-guessing.
There’s a big difference between the groups. Referees need to make split-second calls.
Administrators have the benefit of evaluating a situation, whether it pertains to a disciplinary action, the possibility of a snow day or canceling an extra-curricular event.
Whether the complaints are always warranted is a topic for another day.
My opinion is that the feedback should be part of a two-way street. If those of us in the media are going to present a negative tirade against administrators when we feel a decision is inappropriate or uncalled for, we should be willing to step up and acknowledge the times where we couldn’t agree more with choices that were made.
The decision made by Mahomet-Seymour administrators not to send the Dance Team to a sectional competition on Saturday at Mascoutah — a distance of 175 miles to the southwest — was unquestionably the correct call.
There is always the danger when announcements such as this one are made a day in advance that the weather system will not be as severe as predicted and that safe travel would have been realistic.
This isn’t the case here. Even though snowfall was less than expected, the gusty winds in excess of 30 mph materialized, and beneath the layer of snow was an icy coating. The elements were in place for white-out conditions.
I spoke to a man Saturday afternoon who traveled on Interstate 74 from the Lake of the Woods exit, at Mahomet, to the Neil Street exit, in Champaign. Besides saying he wished he hadn’t made the trip, he said the conditions were “awful.”
As I shoveled a sidewalk Saturday morning, I noticed numerous cars, traveling west on Oak Street attempt to turn south onto Center, but slide right past the street. Some backed up. Others decided to continue going west.
Several years ago, I was driving home in a winter storm with whiteout conditions covering all of the line markings along Route 47 north. I thought I had my car pointed in the proper direction, but soon discovered I was off on the right hand side when I buried the front end of the car in a snow drift.
That was just me, not a bus full of students. It doesn’t matter how experienced or careful a driver is; treacherous weather conditions can make those factors irrelevant.
My heart goes out to the dancers — and the coaches — from M-S. When so much time and dedication has been invested into seeking a goal, and the end reward is within reach, it is frustrating and disheartening to not have the opportunity to compete.
No one likes to have the control removed. If the team competed and fell short, that would be easier to accept than to miss the chance and forever have to wonder what might have been.
And yet, school administrators did what they felt was in the best interests of the students. They put safety first, as any parent would say should be the priority.
They should be applauded for making such a tough decision.
Other schools reached a different decision. Hopefully they made the round-trip safely.
That doesn’t mean those who declined to travel were in the wrong. It means those other schools were fortunate and defied the odds.
Imagine the lawsuits if one of the team transports had been involved in a serious Interstate accident.
There is a bigger issue, however, than the choices made by administrators at M-S and four other schools that chose not to travel to Mascoutah on Saturday, where 17 high schools were assigned to compete.
Why were school districts required to be in that position?
Why did the Illinois High School Association allow — and even encourage — these tournaments to be held with the forecasts and conditions as they were?
A safety-first attitude should be stressed from the highest level and not left to the interpretation and discretion of local school districts.
The IHSA certainly has policies and safeguards in place.
Two years ago, the state bass fishing finals were twice postponed due to high water levels on Carlyle Lake.
The reason? To make sure the waters were at a safe level.
Almost every winter, the IHSA web site features not only results of regional and sectional games played in basketball, but also postponements from sites affected by winter storms.
With the only way to advance to state being through the preliminary stages, such as a regional or sectional tournament, these meets and opportunities shouldn’t be open merely to schools that are able to travel to the site on the scheduled day of the competition.
Granted, makeups dates can be difficult. In this particular case, there might have been an easy option. Monday is the Martin Luther King Holiday and many schools are not in session. That would have been an ideal “second choice” to hold a dance competition.
There are more questions.
—How can the IHSA justify sending schools such as M-S on a 175-mile one-way trek to Mascoutah when there is a sectional 45 miles away, at Normal?
—Why is the Dance Team event held in January? Could it feasibly be switched to November? Or March?
Unfortunately, the IHSA also has a history of supporting ill-advised decisions such as the one to continue with Saturday’s dance sectional.
A few years back, tiny DeLand-Weldon — a rural high school of about 50 students — had a talented girls’ basketball team that was looking forward to competing for a regional title and securing the only 20-win season for the program in school history.
The day of the team’s regional opener (Feb. 10, 2010) was a snow day at D-W, and the school board policy clearly states there will be no athletic competition on days school can’t be held due to weather issues.
However, the host school — which was also the opponent D-W was slated to play — was in session. The regional took place as scheduled.
DeLand-Weldon lost (by forfeit) without even taking the court at Mount Pulaski.
It was the best team the school had fielded since starting girls’ basketball, finishing with a 19-9 record.
These are unfortunate situations that have relatively easy solutions: Think of the children and their safety first.
Always. Period.
Events can be postponed and rescheduled.
Lives can’t be reclaimed once they are lost.
