Bismarck Tribune - Bismarck News - School boards meet, but no decisions

School boards meet, but no decisions

Jan 24, 2008 - 04:06:09 CST

By SARA KINCAID
Bismarck Tribune

ELGIN - The fate of the Carson, Elgin-New Leipzig and Flasher football cooperative is still undecided. A meeting among the three school boards Wednesday at Elgin-New Leipzig High School gave Carson and Elgin-New Leipzig school board members a chance to vent their frustrations and the Flasher board a chance to explain.

Earlier this month, the Flasher school district started busing students who live in Carson but attend Flasher schools through open enrollment because it met their new busing requirements.

Open enrolled students who live within an hour and fifteen minutes by bus would qualify for transportation. Students who live farther than that do not.

"There was discussion of a lawsuit over discrimination, and we spoke with our attorney, Gary Thuen. He said it wasn't a matter of discrimination, but it was a matter of consistency," said Flasher School Board member Lisa Schmidt.

The Carson School District took exception because of a fear that they would be losing students who might opt to go to the Flasher school district now that busing is available.

On top of that, they weren't consulted about the decision even as a courtesy. That's why there is talk about changing the football cooperative.

"That was the only thing that we had to get your attention and for you to understand how much it hurt us," said Harold Gaugler, Elgin-New Leipzig board member.

The Carson and Elgin-New Leipzig board could decide by June 1 to change the cooperative for the next school year, and they want to move the location for the home games out of Flasher. In the meantime, the boards will start meeting monthly to improve communication. The first joint meeting will be in February, but it is yet to be scheduled.

News > Local

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Comments

Rebecca wrote on Jan 30, 2008 3:40 PM:

" To Bobby Boucher: Maybe these towns wouldn't fight so much if they had some h-h-high quality H-2O. "

yo pedro wrote on Jan 25, 2008 10:29 PM:

" If Flasher does get a hockey team I think we should co-op with Bottineau. Heinle can coach I heard his slap shot is wicked! "

BARB wrote on Jan 25, 2008 4:11 PM:

" MY- AREN'T SOME PEOPLE'S PRIORITIES ALL SET IN LIFE!! FOOTBALL FIRST, EDUCATION SECOND! lol.. why can't kids have it all? Set down and figure it out, so they can have both. "

No Common Sense wrote on Jan 25, 2008 3:47 PM:

" To: Bobby Boucher wrote on Jan 24, 2008 8:34 AM: " Football is Life. Life is Football. "

Now this is the most Common Sense I've read on these boards in a long, long time. "

dp wrote on Jan 25, 2008 3:45 PM:

" to Time to educate
Are you Educated? I would guess not by your statement.
I "

new attitude wrote on Jan 25, 2008 10:07 AM:

" Are we supposed to feel scared about losing football?? Will having all the games in Elgin make everything better? Everytime there is a disagreement we have to wonder if we'll have a team? This is how you teach your kids to handle problems? I'm proud of our board for standing up for what they thought was right. Football is a game not a bargaining chip. "

Pedro wrote on Jan 25, 2008 12:41 AM:

" Flasher should start a hockey program. That would pretty much solve all the problems here... "

Tater Salad wrote on Jan 25, 2008 12:16 AM:

" To Time to educate. You don't have a clue how important sports are to todays society. Sports true are fun for most that participate. But they are an educational tool. In todays workforce, corporate America requires one to be able to work as a team and to be compeditive. Sports build these traits. Some kids are very good at sports and can go on and get their college paid for, or for a few privialaged, they can go on to play for a living and make a very nice living. When was the last time 70k people lined up to watch a spelling Bee or watch you feed yout livestock or harvest your crop? Besides, sports also teach us to be compeditive to compete in the workforce and to try to acheive more and be the best at what we do. What good would i be if I just showed up and went through the motions. I would get a Union job if thats all I wanted. "

Whatever wrote on Jan 24, 2008 10:57 PM:

" The reason these small communities are geeting smaller is because they don't now how and will never know how to work together. The same person on the school board raising a fuss is a comissioner!! "

Must Be Slow wrote on Jan 24, 2008 9:54 PM:

" Is this seriously the biggest issue facing the communities of Flasher, Carson, and Elgin-NL? It's no wonder articles appear in National Geographic. "

Parent wrote on Jan 24, 2008 7:26 PM:

" To Time to Eduate: Parents do pay for sports. They are not free, that is for sure. Parents pay a fee for their children to be in activities such as music, sports, drama, etc.. I am a parent of 3 who gladly pays for these activities not only for my kids to have something to do and keep their minds active, but also to keep their bodies active. Academics are a very important part of the equation, but not the only one.

PS: I am not from any of these communities with the conflict, just a curious bystander. "

zzz wrote on Jan 24, 2008 5:35 PM:

" "Time to Educate" must have never been in sports, in music, in FFA, etc. I'd much rather pay tax money to put kids in activities than to build more jails, because a lot of kids would end up there without something to do. I would have. They need to figure this out in Grant County without punishing the kids on the football team. "

BARB wrote on Jan 24, 2008 4:37 PM:

" REALLY---- IS THERE ANY QUESTION-- SPORTS OR EDUCATION.. GET TOGETHER AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THE KIDS "

dave wrote on Jan 24, 2008 4:17 PM:

" Who cares...I would call the bluff of the one guy on the Carson School Board and make them go through the process of dissolving the coop. Being mad about a bus going to Carson won't instantly dissolve a coop...there is a process. "

Time to educate wrote on Jan 24, 2008 4:11 PM:

" Get the sports completely out of the school system. Sports do not belong in public schools and my tax dollars should not be funding them! If parents want sports they should pay for them with there own money or booster groups not my tax dollars. "

solution wrote on Jan 24, 2008 3:44 PM:

" Since everyone is happy now and working together why not have all members of the board vote as one unit. Should the bus stay or go, all members could have voted last night by a show of hands. I think this is fair so they could vote how they wanted, seperate from their board. I think I know the outcome, na na na na hey hey hey good-bye bus. "

Yawn wrote on Jan 24, 2008 2:28 PM:

" I can't believe anyone outside of (or inside really) these communities cares about this. "

helloooooooooooooooo wrote on Jan 24, 2008 2:00 PM:

" I still think we should build a highway over our small towns from Mott to Mandan, and just stop to pick up the kids in our small towns. Just a (carson) taxpayer that doesn't know where my money is going. "

?? wrote on Jan 24, 2008 12:31 PM:

" "Carson and Elgin-New Leipzig school board members a chance to vent their frustrations and the Flasher board a chance to explain."
Why did Flasher have to do explaining. I think the main explaining needed to come from Carson. To put football over academics is plain wrong.
"

Local wrote on Jan 24, 2008 11:39 AM:

" When are they going to start calling that high school by it's correct name??? Grant County High School... "

larry wrote on Jan 24, 2008 10:39 AM:

" I THINK THAT CARSON NEEDS TO CHANGE THE EDUCATION SO THAT WAY THE KIDS MIGHT STAY IN CARSON. I WOULD RATHER SEE ONE HALF WAY DECENT FOOTBALL TEAM, THEN HAVE 2 BAD TEAMS. THE COMMUNITIES ARE GETTING SMALLER AND WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET. "

education first wrote on Jan 24, 2008 10:31 AM:

" The important thing here is that the education of the kids was treated as the most important priority in this whole ordeal.

To 'problems': Flasher and Carson have had an excellent and successful co-op in football for over 15 years and many always assumed the two would eventually co-op in academics as well, why is there a problem now with the fact that Flasher is located in Morton County ? (a whole 16 miles from Carson) It is this contributor's belief that too many politics are involved here. "

Times, they are a'changing wrote on Jan 24, 2008 10:25 AM:

" The articles fails to inform the readers about several important topics discussed. Several members of the Carson/E/NL boards agreed that they would have made the same decision (bus open-enrolled children) had they been in the same situation and that all children deserved to be bused to school. These members also agreed that it was not in the best interest of the students to use the football coop as a bargaining chip. What was most encouraging is that all 4 of the school boards have agreed to participate in problem solving training. This is a very positive step toward reconciliation. According to the Chairman of the meeting, there are a number of important academic consortium agreements between the Highway 21 schools including the track and football coop and the probability for increased cooperation. I was very proud of the professionalism of all of the board members and school administrators as well as the parents and students in attendance at the meeting. HURRAH FOR HIGHWAY 21 SCHOOLS! GO STORM!!! "

Tater Salad wrote on Jan 24, 2008 8:59 AM:

" I say build one new school for all 4 communities in a central location. Then there would not be this issue. "

Bobby Boucher wrote on Jan 24, 2008 8:34 AM:

" Football is Life. Life is Football. "

problems wrote on Jan 24, 2008 7:05 AM:

" I think home schooling and open enrollment should cease immediately. Those two issues have caused more harm than good. It doesn't make any sense to drive hundreds of miles in the course of a year to educate the children when there are good schools nearby.
If you like a school in another city/town better than the one you are in, move to that town and support it, anything other than that is a sham.
Flasher is in Morton Co. maybe they should be working with schools in their co. "

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