Rusty Dowling – Executive Director – THSADA...Football: Cliff Odenwald-Garland ISD Texas High School Athletic Directors Association 2016-2017 Board of Directors/Committee Chairs - [PDF Document] (2024)

THSADA NEWSLETTERPresented by Home Team Marketing

THSADA NEWSLETTERNovember 2016

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS REPORT Rusty Dowling – Executive Director –THSADAAs we move into the month of November, we experience StateTournament action with Volleyball, Cross-Country and Team Tenniscompetitions along with the start of the football playoffsculminating in the state championships at AT&T Stadium inArlington. November is also the month where we take the first stepsin preparing for the 46th annual Home Team Marketing-THSADA StateConference that will be held in Waco, Texas on March 26th-March29th, 2017. State Conference/Hotel/Golf and Exhibitor Registrationswill begin on Tuesday, November 1st, 2016. You will be able to findregistration information at www.thsada.com. The State Conferenceagenda will be posted sometime in January or early February.

The THSADA is currently up to 835 members making us one of thelargest AD Associations in the country. The goal is to reach 1,000by the State Conference.

President John Crawford continued the THSADA tradition ofpresenting a lecture at the annual TGCA Summer Convention inArlington. Thank you to the AD’s that attended this event.

The annual PBK Sports-THSADA Hall of Honor Banquet was recentlyheld at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Antonio, Texas inconjunction with the annual THSCA Coaching School. Attendance atthe banquet

was very good as this event continues to be a marquee eventduring the THSADA calendar year. As always, the highlightedpresentations at the banquet are the annual Hall of Honorinductions. Significant in the inductions this year were two of theoriginal founders of the THSADA, Kelly Horn and Winlon Knowlesalong with former Board member, Jim Slaughter. Those individual whowere presented awards at the banquet will be listed at the end ofthis article

The THSADA General Session was held Monday morning at the HenryB. Gonzalez Convention Center and featured the installation of thenew THSADA Board of Directors along with the presentation of thenew THSADA President, John Crawford-Midlothian ISD. We recognizedthose outgoing Region Directors who have served the THSADA for thepast two years along with our retiring Athletic Directors.

Tuesday morning the new THSADA Board of Directors went throughan orientation process which is intended to preview the upcomingyear, meet the new members, review THSADA policies and proceduresand plan the calendar for the upcoming year. The Board of Directorswill meet January 15th-16th 2017 at the THSADA office in Houston,Texas.

Committees will reconvene at the State Conference and continuetheir

work on behalf of the THSADA. Awards Committee members will beasking for recommendations and nominations for the different awardcategories.

THSADA members are reminded to make every effort to attend yourRegion meetings. These are critical for all athletic administratorsas this is a great opportunity to network with your colleagues,stay abreast of all UIL concerns, stay informed of all THSADAbusiness and get exposure to any or all new businesses that youcould possibly be interested in. The UIL will attend most of theRegion meetings to do a de-brief on Legislative Council actions soplease make sure you attend.

THSADA took our annual trek to Cleveland, Ohio, which is thehome of Home Team Marketing, to visit with the National Associationof Collegiate Directors of Athletics. It’s a good professionaldevelopment opportunity for us as we review all the logistics ofour State Conference regarding registrations, exhibitors, classroomsession, etc.

President John Crawford will be attending the annual NationalAthletic Directors Convention that will be held in Nashville,Tennessee in December.

THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016 2

Awards Presented at the PBK Sports-THSADA Hall of HonorBanquet

THSADA Region Athletic Administrators of the YearPresented byHellas Construction and Daktronics, Inc.

Region 1-Jennifer Roland-Lubbock ISDRegion 2-Mark Baker-SanAngelo ISDRegion 3-David Kuykendall-Frisco ISD

Region 4-Mike Williams-Ysleta ISDRegion 5-Rodney Chant-PasadenaISD

Region 6-Dwayne Weirich-Round Rock ISDRegion 7-OscarRiojas-Weslaco CISDRegion 8-Stan Laing-Northside ISD

Joe Bill Fox AwardPresented by Mr. Joe Bill Fox

Dr. Charles Breithaupt-Executive Director-UniversityInterscholastic League

PBK Sports Athletic Director of the YearPresented by TreySchneider, PE/Partner-PBK Sports

Chris Feris-Director of Athletics-Birdville ISD

NFHS CitationPresented by Balfour

Lisa Langston-Assistant Director of Athletics-Fort Worth ISD

NIAAA Distinguished Service AwardMarmion Dambrino-Director ofAthletics-Houston ISD

Kelly Reeves State Award of MeritPresented by Whataburger

Shawn Pratt-Director of Athletics-McKinney ISD

Hall of Honor InducteesWinlon Knowles-former Director ofAthletics-Pine Tree ISDJim Slaughter-former Director ofAthletics-San Angelo ISD

Kelly Horn-former Director of Athletics-North East ISD

THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016

2016 PBK Sports-THSADA Hall of Honor Banquet

2016 Hall of Honor Inductee-Winlon Knowles-Represented here byhis son Jack-Bob DeJonge-Awards Chair

2016 PBK Sports-THSADA Athletic Director of the YearL-R-TreySchneider, PBK Sports-Chris Feris-Birdville ISD,

Todd Vesely-Awards Committee

L-R: Joe Bill Fox, Dr. Charles Breithaupt-UIL-Joe Bill Fox AwardRecipient, Todd Vesely-Awards Committee

2016 Hall of Honor Inductee-Jim Slaughter-San Angelo ISD

2016 Hall of Honor Inductee-Kelly Horn – Represented here by hisson Drew and Drew’s daughter-Hayley

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THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016

THSADA BOARD OF DIRECTORSFront Row L-R: Sandra Howell-Little ElmISD, Shawn Pratt-McKinney ISD, Debbie Decker-Katy ISD, JohnCrawford-Midlothian ISD, Chris Feris-Birdville ISD, KathyMathis-THSADA

Back Row L-R: Keith Kilgore-THSADA, Oscar Riojas-Weslaco ISD,Rene Aguilar-Clint ISD, David Kuykendall-Frisco ISD, BradThiessen-Amarillo ISD, Hugh Sandifer-Wylie ISD, Rudy De LosSantos-Harlandale ISD, Bob DeJonge-Keller ISD, RodneyChant-Pasadena ISD, Johanna Denson-Pflugerville ISD, RustyDowling-THSADA

2016-17

OfficersPresident-John Crawford-MidlothianISDPresident-Elect-Debbie Decker-Katy ISDVice-President-ShawnPratt-McKinney ISDPast-President-Chris Feris-Birdville ISD

Regional DirectorsRegion 1-Brad Thiessen-Amarillo ISD Region2-Hugh Sandifer-Wylie ISDRegion 3-David Kuykendall-Frisco ISDRegion 4-Rene Aguilar – Clint ISD Region 5-Rodney Chant-PasadenaISD Region 6-Johanna Denson-Pflugerville ISD Region 7-Oscar Riojas– Weslaco ISD Region 8-Rudy De Los Santos-Harlandale ISD BoardMembersBoard Secretary-Sandra Howell – Little Elm ISD BoardHistorian-Bob DeJonge-Keller ISD

THSADA OfficeExecutive Director – Rusty Dowling ExecutiveAssistant – Kathy Mathis Special Events Manager – Keith Kilgore

Committee ChairsPublications: Bernie Mulvaney-Goose CreekISDProfessional Development: Debbie Fuchs-Clear Creek ISDAwards:Randy Cretors-Harlingen CISDMembership: Jennifer Roland-AlamoHeights ISD Special Events: Vince Sebo-Tomball ISDFootball: CliffOdenwald-Garland ISD

Texas High School Athletic Directors Association2016-2017 Boardof Directors/Committee Chairs

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THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016 5

As we embark on another year, and as I reflect back on the greatstrides and growth that the Association has made over the past 46years, I am humbled for the opportunity to serve as yourPresi-dent. I am grateful to the past presi-dents, board members,and members who have paved the way for excellence in high schoolathletics.

I would like to thank Chris Feris, who, over the past year aspresident, suc-cessfully promoted the establishment of a strongfoundation in all initiatives pertaining to the Association. Hislead-ership, dedication and performance, ele-vated our standards ofexcellence. Also, I would be remiss if I did take a minute tomention Rusty Dowling who, as Ex-ecutive Director, continued toincrease the efficiency of our association and has grown ourmembership base to over 835 members and counting. Mostim-portantly, I would like to thank Kathy Mathis for all of herhard work, dedica-tion, and countless hours in advancing

the association to take great strides for growth.

Furthermore, I want to congratulate Shawn Pratt of McKinney ISDon being named Vice- President. I look forward to working withDebbie Decker- Pres-ident-Elect and all of the exceptional boardmembers and committees mem-bers on excelling and enhancing themission of the Association to meet the needs of all of ourassociates. These Re-gional Directors include the following: Region1- Brad Thiessen (Amarillo ISD), Region 2- Hugh Sandifer (AbileneWylie ISD), Region 3- David Kuykendall (Frisco ISD), Region 4- ReneAguilar (Clint ISD), Region 5- Rodney Chant (Pasadena ISD), Region6- Johanna Denson (Pflugerville ISD), Region 7- Oscar Riojas(Weslaco ISD), and Region 8- Rudy De Los Santos (HarlandaleISD).

Our mission and objectives will continue to remain the same, toprovide members with Professional Development, Leader-

ship and Support opportunities that are conducive to effectiveathletic adminis-tration.

My goals for the coming year are to in-crease the Association’smemberships to over 1000 members prior to the State Conference,have a greater presences with Superintendents and theirprofes-sional organizations, and to strive to provide greaterprofessional develop-ment opportunities, including a Texas AthleticAdministrator Certification.

Thank you to all for your continued sup-port of theAssociation’s initiatives. I look forward to the coming schoolyear. I wish you all great success in the coming year. Movingforward, I encourage you to become involved in the Association invarious capacities by serving on com-mittees, submitting articles,or assisting as a volunteer or speaker at our confer-ences.

President’s RemarksJohn Crawford – THSADA Director of Athleticsfor Midlothian ISD

Commitment to excellence, effort and teamwork are on fulldisplay every week under the Friday night lights, and not just fromAustin ISD's standout football teams.

The district is honoring some of Austin's finest police officersprior to kickoff ev-

ery week in conjunction with the Fellow-ship of ChristianAthletes.

The district recognized two standouts Sept. 2 at Nelson Fieldand Burger Sta-dium.

Officer Katy Ricker has been with APD for five years and washonored prior to the Austin High vs. Akins matchup at BurgerStadium for her efforts during the Oct. 30, 2015, floods. Rickerrisked her life to save a woman trapped in rising wa-ters of OnionCreek, pulling her to safety.

APD Sergeant Jeff Crawford, a 26-year veteran, has worked inpatrols, SWAT, gang unit, homicide and special events. He currentlysupervises the bomb squad, explosive-detecting K-9 unit and thedive

team. He was saluted by the crowd at Nel-son field prior toBowie's clash with LBJ.

Austin ISD will honor Austin police of-ficers prior to gamesthroughout the season, and has plans to expand the rec-ognitions toinclude Austin ISD police officers.

To nominate an officer for recognition, please send theofficer's name and a brief description of his or her service toSteve Vittorini, director of the Greater Austin FCA, at[emailprotected].

For more information on Austin ISD athletics, visitaustinisdathletics.com, or follow @AISDAtheltics on Twitter or onFacebook at facebook.com/AISDAthletics

AISD Honors Austin Police Officers Under the Friday NightLights

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THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016

Did you know that McKinney ISD was building the most expensivestadium at a colossal waste of money with the largest video screenin the history of mankind, and only because Allen did it first? Ifyou tend to listen to the exaggerations of such media as the NYTimes, LA Times and even Jimmy Fallon, the preceding is the picturethat has been painted so far. Even our local media took a generalstab at it, just with more favorable titles such as, “It's done:McKinney residents vote for new stadium, one of the priciest in thestate” and “McKinney ISD’s new mega stadium just got moreexpensive..” May-be these titles do not seem more favor-able, butcompared to the gross exagger-ation in other media outletsthroughout the nation, they are more encouraging. Thesesensational, attention-grabbing articles do not reflect theexcitement in our community about this project.

There are several foundational philos-ophies we as a Districtand Athletic Di-rector, Shawn Pratt, have that helped the beginningof this project not be as chal-lenging as some would imagine.Embrace your community! When building a sta-dium, you need to buildthe foundation in your community first. Educate your community onthe true facts of your proj-ect, not the ones the mainstream mediawant to publicize. You need their support behind the project – getthem to buy in and be your voice to the naysayers. Re-lationshipbuilding is not only important within your community, it isimportant with your media outlets as well. Estab-lish a positiverelationship with your lo-cal media before you have any adversity.Finally, use your resources. Lesson plan-ning has always beencentered around collaboration with your peers. This is an importantphilosophy when planning a stadium. Don’t be afraid to reach out toothers for guidance so you don’t make

their same mistakes. The most important facet of building astadium is to ensure buy-in from all stakeholders. The first personyou need buy-in from is your Superintendent. Their overall visionneeds to align with yours on this project so it will end up beingenjoyable and rewarding, the way it should be. Your community mustbe convinced the stadium is what’s best for their studentpopulation so they will de-fend it through the process. Ourturn-ing point was when the following quotes from Shawn Pratt werepublished by the Dallas Morning news:

He stated, “We want first-class facilities for our kids andwe’re not apologizing for that.” He was asked, “What do you say topeople who think you didn’t need to spend $50 million on this newstadium?” His response, “I’ve seen what high school athletics cando. They teach kids lessons they can’t necessarily learn in Englishor Math. Our curriculum is first and fore-most, but my son’sexperiences in foot-ball were no less important than what heexperienced in his academic classes. Football taught him a lot ofintangibles and life lessons he can’t learn otherwise. There willbe more fine arts students per-forming there than athletescompeting. It’s an overall educational experience and tool, andpeople don’t realize that. Peo-ple think it’s all about winning afootball game and there’s so much more to it”

This article reminded our community the value of athletics inMcKinney ISD. This made it easier to obtain buy-in from those whono longer looked at this bond as a “stadium bond”. Solicit inputfrom as many stakeholders as possible in the design phase to getthem excited about the project. Go to your Fine Arts and BandDirectors to ask them their wish list of items in the stadium. Wepointed out features Coach Pratt planned to in-

clude to enhance their experience – the Fine Arts Plaza, theirown restrooms and ice machine. These are all very ba-sic amenitiesthat go a long way with these groups. Our next groups to focus onwere Coaches, Athletic Trainers and Team Docs. They assisted us indesign-ing the locker room areas, office areas and training roomareas. Our Broadcast Journalism groups have become an inte-gralpart of our game nights since their students live stream our games,so we solicited their input in designing their ideal broadcastroom. Bring in your tech-nology department for these rooms to gettheir opinions on the number of Wi-fi access points, basictechnology needs for media, stadium TV placement and mostimportantly, to discuss the video board. Communicate with Safety& Se-curity, Grounds & Maintenance, Food Service, CustodialServices, Ticketing Services and the Media throughout the designphase. Soliciting ideas from these groups will allow you to designa stadium that meets everyone’s needs. It also pro-vides each groupthe feeling of ownership and a sense of pride in the project. Notonly do you involve them in the design phase, but you also haveplans to tie in all groups into the branding of the stadium. We arecurrently collecting a wide range of pictures of football teams,bands, cheerleaders, drill teams and anything else pertaining toMcKinney ISD from the past up to the present. We will find a way totie this memorabilia into the dé-cor of the stadium to help tellthe story of McKinney ISD and all of the success we haveexperienced in our history.

The second part of ensuring buy-in is to educate as many peopleas possible on the real facts. As a District, plan to present toanyone that will listen, whether they are a group of 3 or a groupof 30. Coach

Points to Consider When Building a New FacilityBy: ValerieLittle, Associate AD, McKinney ISD

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THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016 8

Pratt had several one-on-one meetings in his office withtaxpayers who did not understand the bond process; he would educatethem on the bond process and the overall bond plan and how it wouldbenefit ALL MISD students. Without fail, they would leave as afriend of the program and a YES vote. Start with edu-cating theBond Committee. Our District was well prepared each time they werein front of the committee and our Superin-tendent and Cabinetalways presented a unified vision and plan that instilledcon-fidence within our committee and gave MISD credibility. We thenpresented to booster clubs, campus coaches meetings, youth sportsorganizations and even the Rotary. If any group showed anyinterest, we found the time to present and educate them on the truefacts, not the ones in the mainstream media. When we werepresenting, the key was to be complete-ly transparent and answerall questions openly and honestly for the public to see we were onthe same side and all had the same goal – to improve our Districtwith the bond. Making ourselves available to the public helped theschool District build trust within our community.

The media’s overall experience in McK-inney ISD, from how theyare treated to the service they receive, has been a pri-ority inMcKinney ISD Athletics since Coach Pratt has been our AthleticDirec-tor. He often reminds us, “Don’t get in a fight with a guythat buys ink by the barrel”. We intentionally try to create ahospitable atmosphere in our press box, from the workers we hire,to having din-ner available throughout the evening, and trying toaccommodate any special requests within reason. Last year weemployed our first Sports Information Director who has generated alot of great information in which our media has pro-vided positivefeedback. Just this past week, a local reporter told me that ourMISD football media guide was “better than most colleges willprovide”. Our SID will also send stats or interesting facts

during games for us to push out on our Stadium app. In myopinion, these small perks have helped to provide us a goodreputation amongst the media ranks. We feel this has been quitehelpful in what has sometimes been a media circus!

The third and final tip we would offer for anyone about to headinto a large project is to seek out those who have “been there anddone that”. Utilize your resources you have right in front of you.From the beginning, Coach Pratt was in constant contact with a fewkey people that could offer a bit of wisdom about the decisions hewas facing. Debbie Decker, Katy ISD Athletic Director is still onspeed dial, as their stadium is 6 months ahead of the McKinney ISDstadium so she is very helpful with questions and ideas and iswilling to meet at the drop of a hat. Also, Steve Williams, AllenISD Athletic Direc-tor, having just gone through building theirstadium and the issues they faced, was another resource we reachedout to frequently in the planning process. Ja-son Cook, TexasA&M Senior Associate Athletics Director, spent several hourswith us touring Kyle Field and answer-ing questions about how totell our sto-ry, not to mention the countless emails in between.Kris Harris, SMU Associate AD/Event Management and FacilitiesOperations has a student in our District, served on our Bondcommittee, and was more than willing to offer his expertise. DrewPittman, Baylor University Assis-tant Athletic Director gave usgreat ideas on marketing and branding as well as spending severalhours at McClane sta-dium with us. We took numerous sta-dium visitsto both high school and col-lege stadiums not to mention the visitsand discussions with so many Athletic Directors including ourExecutive Direc-tor- Rusty Dowling, Northeast ISD, Den-ton ISD,Mansfield ISD, New Caney ISD and many others who have entertainedour questions. Each time a subject came up, we knew we could callany one of the above mentioned and they had advice to offer to helpus make the decision that

was best for us. As we always say about coaching, there is noneed to reinvent the wheel. We used our relationships with ourpeers and even created new ones in this process. It was truly acollaboration with those who have been in our shoes before.Hopefully we can learn from their mistakes and not repeat them inthe planning of ours.

In summary, I realize we have a long way to go in the process ofbuilding our sta-dium and I am sure we will learn quite a bit morealong the way. However, I do know if it were not for the previoushealthy relationships we had with our local media and the way ourcommunity was treated in this process, we would not be lucky enoughto be currently building a new District stadium. We havedefi-nitely made it big in the media and all the way to late night!We have our com-munity, our Cabinet, our Superintendent and ourBoard all on the same page and in support of this bond since it iswhat’s best for our kids. If there were two piec-es of advice wecould offer to our peers to help them through a big project theywould be 1) solicit input from all stake-holders and let them be apart of it from the beginning and 2) find help from your peers andutilize your resources. No mat-ter what we face in the comingmonths of building our stadium, I am confident McKinney ISDAthletics will come out on top and in the best light possible dueto our transparency and overall approach to the new McKinney ISDStadium & Event Center.

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THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016

Value-Added Progress MonitoringSystem of Support

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Middle school and high school athletic programs are a majorcomponent of the McAllen Independent School District MissionStatement. Successful athletic programs produce great athletes, buthighly successful school districts produce student athletes whoexcel in the classroom. The McAllen Independent School District,under the direction of Dr. J. A. Gonzalez, Superintendent ofSchools, has decided to take academic success a step further.Instead of monitoring only students who are in fear of losingeligibility, MISD wants to make sure that all our students havevalue-added performance. As a District, we wanted to develop asystem which monitored all UIL participants, to include Fine Artsand Career and Technical Education which correlated with the MISDadopted color-coding of testing quintiles.

A committee consisting of Dr. Mike Barrera, Asst. Supt. ofDistrict Operations; Bridgette Vieh, Associate Supt. forInstructional Leadership; Alejandra Gonzalez, Director ofPurchasing; Jim Egger, Director of Fine Arts, Lilia Sandoval Silva,Director of Career & Technical Education; Miguel Carmona,Coordinator for Application Services, and myself workedtogether

to develop the “Value-Added Progress Monitoring System ofSupport.” My High School Girls and Boys Athletic Coordinators werealso vital to the development of this tool. All Athletes, Fine ArtsStudents, and Career & Technical Education Students are placedon an activity roster. A color-coded spreadsheet is given to eachdesignated coach/teacher who serves as the mentor. Mentors will notonly visually monitor the student’s grades through our Skywardprogram (student electronic grading system), but also monitorattendance and discipline. A six-step process was developed formentors to follow. Mentors offer assistance, praise and support asneeded. They will also offer individualized student interventionsand strategies for students who need extra assistance. Campusadministration will also be involved by assuring that tutoringopportunities are provided at different times to minimizeinterference with practices and rehearsals. Systems and processesare set up to ensure that grades and attendance are entered in atimely manner.

The “Value-Added Progress Monitoring System of Support” wasintroduced to the MISD Board of Trustees and Administrationback

in August 22, 2016. There has been much positive feedback aboutthe monitoring system that is simple, has structure, and providesconsistency for all UIL participants. This system uses five colorsthat correspond with grades attained in classes during each gradingperiod. Red and yellow are danger zones, green reflects minimumstandards are met, and light and dark blue are grades of 80 orhigher. Our goal as a district is to move as many students towardthe dark blue quintile as possible. The color coding system easilyalerts mentors should grades begin to drop and special guidance isneeded. A color coded flowchart and sample spreadsheet are includedto provide details of our system.

Our motivational slogan is “Success is all about makingconnections!” We believe that our coaches and teachers connectingwith our students can be the key that leads them to success. TheMcAllen Independent School District is geared and committed towardsacademic excellence for all students. As a District, we all worktogether to provide opportunities for our students to participatein extra-curricular activities while they strive for excellence inthe classroom.

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by Paula Gonzalez, McAllen ISD

THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016 10

COLOR CODE FLOW CHART

SPREAD SHEET

Campus Administration• Ensure that tutoring opportunities arealso provided in the

morning and at lunch time.

• Ensure that grades are entered (as per MISD grading

guidelines in a timely manner).

• Communicate discipline issues with coaches/teachers.

Mentors1. Continuously monitor grades, attendance,discipline

(Skyward, Progress Monitoring Report)

2. One on one conversations (positive reinforcement, praise,

support)

3. Facilitate tutoring/retest as needed

4. Follow up conference (offer support and assistance as

needed)

5. Communicate with grade level administrator/parent

conference IF needed

6. Personalized student interventions and strategies as

needed

Success is all about making connections!

Story continued from page 9

THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016 11

As the in-house attorney for Keller ISD I am often asked to cometo staff meetings or in-service days to talk to staff members aboutlegal issues. When I ask what the administra-tion would like me tocover with the staff the most common answer is “whatever will getthem fired.” I admire folks who can cut to the chase! With thosemarching orders in mind I created what I call the Career Hit List:The Top 10 Ways to Get Fired. Please remember that there are manyways to run afoul of the law and policies of your school district,but accept this as my humble opinion on some of the most pressingreasons school employ-ees can (and likely should) lose their jobsand maybe even their certifications.

Number 1. Hit a KidMost public schools prohibit corporalpunish-ment in local policy FO. Those policies make clear thatstudents shall not be spanked, pad-dled, or subjected to otherphysical force as a means of discipline. Why would school dis-trictprohibit paddling or other discipline by force? I think there aretwo primary reasons.First, the Texas Educator Code of EthicsStandard 3.2 states that “the educator shall not intentionally,knowingly, or recklessly treat a student or minor in a manner thatadversely affects or endangers the learning, physical health,mental health, or safety of the student or minor.” Standard 3.5provides that “the educator shall not intentionally, knowingly, orrecklessly engage in physical mistreatment, neglect, or abuse of astudent or minor.” Not corporally punishing students decreases therisk of physical mistreatment that would adversely affect a child.Many dis-tricts have determined that holding a bright line on thisissue minimizes risk of com-plaints of abuse.The second reason isliability. It is well-es-tablished law in Texas that schooldistricts are political subdivisions of the state and are governedby the doctrine of governmental immunity. School districts areimmune for the negligence of their employees under the doctrine ofgovernmental immunity with very narrow exceptions. The onlyexceptions to the well-established governmental immu-nity held byschool districts occurs when an employee (1) uses excessive forcein the dis-

cipline of students resulting in bodily inju-ry to students and(2) negligently operates a motor vehicle. This liability issue iswhy school lawyers get a little antsy around ath-letics – coachesput students on buses all of the time to drive them all over thestate and occasionally use something physical (like running linesor bleachers) as punishment. If a student is injured during eitherof those activities the school and coach are potentially open toliability.

Number 2. Hit on a KidWe continue to see headlines aboutinappro-priate teacher-student relationships in Texas and acrossthe country. This is an epidemic that must stop. It is likely we’llsee some bills introduced during the next legislative sessionregarding what law-makers are referring to as “passing the trash.”It is critically important that we, as educators, work diligentlyto po-lice ourselves and handle all bad acts with students swiftlyand appropriately. Texas Educator Code of Ethics Standard 3.6states that “the educator shall not solicit or engage in sexualconduct or a romantic rela-tionship with a student or minor.”Standard 3.8 goes on to remind us that “the educator shall maintainappropriate professional edu-cator-student relationships andboundaries based on a reasonably prudent educator stan-dard.” Themost recent addition to the Educa-tor Code of Ethics is section3.9, which gives us specific direction in regard to electroniccommunication with students: The educator shall refrain frominappropriate communication with a student or minor, in-cluding,but not limited to, electronic commu-nication such as cell phone,text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging, blogging, or othersocial network communication. Factors that may be considered inassessing whether the communication is inappropriate include, butare not limited to:1. The nature, purpose, timing, and amount ofthe communication;2. The subject matter of the communica- tion;3.Whether the communication was made openly or the educator attemptedto con- ceal the communication;4. Whether the communication couldbe reasonably interpreted as soliciting sexual

contact or a romantic relationship;5. Whether the communicationwas sexual- ly explicit; and6. Whether the communication involveddiscussion(s) of the physical or sexual attractiveness or thesexual history, activities, preferences, or fantasies of either theeducator or the student.It is absolutely necessary that everyeducator understand and establish clear boundaries between studentsand themselves. By way of example, educators should not:

• Use inappropriate nicknames (honey, baby, sweetie, etc.).•Tell students you can’t wait until they graduate so you can date,be together, or otherwise socialize.• Touch inappropriately – youknow when a hug goes too far, and kissing is never oaky. NEVER.•Talk to students about their love lives or yours.• Comment on anystudent’s attractiveness. Actually, don’t comment on any one’sattractiveness.• Make sex jokes.• Share inappropriate pictures ofyou or anyone else.• Solicit or take inappropriate pictures of anystudent or minor.• Do anything that would make students think youare a romantic, sexual, or other wise date-able being.

Please take it upon yourself to report any and all behavior youwitness that could be con-strued as flirting, a romanticrelationship, or in any way inappropriate. Let your adminis-trationknow of your suspicions as soon as you see or hear somethingconcerning. It’s up to each of us to get these people out ofed-ucation and away from our students.

Number 3. Give a Kid a HitEducators can’t provide alcohol orillegal/un-authorized drugs to any person under the age of 21unless you’re the child’s parent accord-ing to Code of EthicsStandard 3.7. (Note: Parents shouldn’t provideillegal drugs toanyone, even their old chil-dren.) This rule includes providingover the

Educator Career Hit List: The Top 10 Ways to Get Firedby AmandaBigbee, Keller ISD General Counsel

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counter medications, even supplements and vitamins. Let parentsand medical personnel tend to the medicinal needs of the students –don’t try to medicate them yourself.

Number 4. Hit Send or Post/Tweet Too FastI often refer to thistopic as “social media stu-pidity.” If you put controversialmaterial on your Facebook page, Twitter feed, Snapchat account, oreven Pinterest page, negative em-ployment action could be comingyour way. I know what you’re thinking… “but I was at home on my owncomputer on my own time – they can’t fire me for that!” Oh, butthey can. The 1968 United States Supreme court case Pickering vBoard of Education (391 US 563) set out a test that we use tobalance the interests of a public employer with its em-ployees’right to free speech. When we are analyzing an employee free speechcase, we use the following questions to guide our de-cision making:1. Does the employee’s speech address a matter of public interestand concern? 2. Was the employee’s speech a significant ormotivating factor in the employer's decision? 3. How do we balancethe interests of the employee commenting on matters of publicconcern as a citizen and the pub- lic employer's interest in"promoting the efficiency of public service?"If you’ve Tweeted orposted something that is so disruptive that the school isnegatively im-pacted by media attention, parent concerns, orincreased student complaints, by way of example, the schooldistrict may be within its authority to take negative employmentaction against you. If you are speaking as an employee, such asduring practice or a game or on an official school social mediaaccount, you have even less protection. As a public school employeeyou are part of the government and speak-ing on behalf of thegovernment. You do not have an unencumbered right to advocate for areligious viewpoint or discriminate, for ex-ample. You should alsobe cognizant of the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA). The TPIArequires schools to provide members of the public with informationwhen it is requested. There are very few exceptions to thedisclo-

sure requirement. Some of the information that is public relatesto you. Your emails re-garding a student, for example, must bepro-duced to the child’s parent upon request from the parent. Inmost cases this is fine and there is no concern, but if you havesaid embarrass-ing or inappropriate things to a colleague in emailsit can mean employment difficulty for you. Cursing, venting, orcomplaining about a student in email can spell trouble for you andyour career.

Number 5. Hit the Road with Stuff That Isn’t YoursThou shall notsteal stuff. While it’s never okay to steal from your employer,there is a heightened sense of responsibility when items arepurchased with taxpayer money, as is the case in public schools.Three of the Educator Code of Ethics standards relate tostealing:

Standard 1.2. The educator shall not know-ingly misappropriate,divert, or use monies, personnel, property, or equipment committedto his or her charge for personal gain or ad-vantage.

In other words, you won’t use the gymnasium to run a camp foryour personal gain or take home some of the baseball equipment soyour kid can use it for club games.

Standard 1.3. The educator shall not submit fraudulent requestsfor reimbursem*nt, ex-penses, or pay.

This standard means you won’t tell your school district you wentto Austin for a con-ference and ask for mileage if you didn’t go(or if you took the school vehicle and not your personalvehicle).

Standard 1.4. The educator shall not use in-stitutional orprofessional privileges for per-sonal or partisan advantage.

My best example of this standard is the teacher who uses herwork time and/or email account to sell candles, laundry detergent,makeup, or jewelry. If you have a side busi-ness it should stay farto the side and not in any way take up school time orresources.Along these lines, you should also be aware of EducatorCode of Ethics Standard 1.5, which states that “the educator shallneither ac-

cept nor offer gratuities, gifts, or favors that impairprofessional judgment or to obtain special advantage.” You shouldalways give grades, positions, and opportunities based on skill andability – not based on a bribe.

Number 6. Hit Below the Belt (Otherwise known as discriminationand harassment)As a public school official, you cannotdis-criminate against students or colleagues. Standard 2.5 tells usthat “the educator shall not discriminate against or coerce acolleague on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin,age, gender, disability, family status, or sexual orientation.”Standard 3.4 goes on to say that “the educator shall not exclude astudent from participation in a program, deny benefits to astudent, or grant an advan-tage to a student on the basis of race,color, gender, disability, national origin, religion, familystatus, or sexual orientation.” If you are found to discriminateagainst anyone on one of these grounds you should expect swift andserious negative employment action.

Number 7. Hit the Wall on Implementing an IEP or 504 planSpecialeducation and 504 accommodations could be another article (book) onits own, so I’ll keep this simple and straightforward. Disabledstudents can and should be in your classrooms and on your teams. Wemust make reasonable accommodations to allow students theopportunity to fully participate in all activities. This does notmean a disabled child automatically plays varsity ball because theyare disabled. It does mean, though, that we may need to provide asign language inter-preter, a large print playbook, or any numberof other accommodations to allow the child to participate. If youhave questions about how an IEP or 504 plan applies to your classor activity, ask the child’s case manager or your campusadministration for assistance.

Number 8. Hit or Miss on Maintaining Confidentiality Both stateand federal law requires educators to maintain a high level ofconfidentiality when it comes to student information. Anyinformation regarding a child’s grades, dis-cipline, absences,disabilities, at-risk status, etc. is strictly confidential andshould not be shared with anyone who does not have an educationalneed to know the information.

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Educator Code of Ethics Standard 3.1 puts it this way: “theeducator shall not reveal con-fidential information concerningstudents unless disclosure serves lawful professional purposes oris required by law.” Avoid the temptation to gossip aboutstudents.A lesser known component of confidentiality is the dutyyou owe to your colleagues. Stan-dard 2.1 provides that “theeducator shall not reveal confidential health or personnelinfor-mation concerning colleagues unless disclo-sure serves lawfulprofessional purposes or is required by law.” Unless you havespecific consent to do so, you should not share infor-mationregarding your co-workers. Number 9. Hit the Bottle and other MoralTurpitudeThe preface to the Educator Code of Ethics states that“the Texas educator, in maintain-ing the dignity of the profession,shall re-spect and obey the law, demonstrate personal

integrity, and exemplify honesty.” Texas ed-ucators should begood people our kids can look up to as positive role models. Weexpect educators to be honest, hardworking people who obey the lawand tell the truth. If you be-have in a way that makes youradministrators doubt that you are that kind of person, your job maybe at risk. What kind of things could make an admin-istrator thinktwice about your integrity? Your local policy DFBB is a good placeto start looking for that answer. Most districts have establishedthat they can take employment action against you if you come toschool or school events under the influence of drugs or alcohol.You could also lose your job for possessing or selling illegaldrugs or other substances. Hitting the bottle is a way to lose yourjob quickly.

Number 10. Hit the Bottom and Stay There - Your local policyDFBB likely has the following as a reason your contract can benon-renewed:

Any activity, school-connected or other-wise, that, because ofpublicity given it, or knowledge of it among students, faculty, andcommunity, impairs or diminishes the employee’s effectiveness inthe District.Remember as you go through your day that if you dosomething so unfortunate or ill-ad-vised that the world ends uppaying attention – be it a DWI, an arrest, or an offensive Tweet –that the school district will likely be forced to take some action.If you do something that makes parents pull their kids from yourclass or program, your effectiveness is diminished and you may loseyour job.

Everyone has a bad day now and again, but if you have a bad yearyou may find yourself without a job. If you hit the bottom of thebarrel and don’t bounce back, your employ-er may need to let yougo. Your students de-serve the best you have to offer, so do whatyou need to do to stay at the top of your game for your school andyour kids.

Several years ago, our superintendent, Dr. Jim Chadwell,challenged our department to devise a strategic plan for athletics.As a part of the plan, we reviewed how our sixth grade physicaleducation programming contributed to the development of EMS studentathletes. After visiting several districts for the overall plan, wedetermined that we could do better with sixth grade physicaleducation and by doing so, could impact the development andcompetitiveness of our middle school sev-enth and eighth gradeteams, as well as pro-viding more appropriate programming for thosestudents not desiring to be involved in competitive athletics.EagleMountain-Saginaw ISD now offers two physical education classes forsixth grade stu-dents: Sixth Grade Pre-Athletics and LifetimeFitness. Both address the TEKS and give stu-dents the opportunityto enjoy their partici-pation in PE. The classes are heldsimultane-ously in two gyms. Our middle schools have roughly 275sixth graders each. Lifetime Fitness serves students who areuninterested in the competitive nature of an athletic pro-gram. Inaddition to traditional sports, these students enjoy activitiessuch as Frisbee, hula hoops, scooter boards, pickle ball etc.and

benefit from being in class with other kids who prefer the morelaid back atmosphere offered in PE. Students who are looking for amore rigor-ous and vigorous class choose our Pre-Ath-letics class.Seventy percent of sixth graders choose this class. We staff ourclasses with four coaches. Three of the coaches go with thedevelopmental class and one with the Life-time class. Thedevelopmental classes use a three-station rotation each day. Threedays a week in the fall, kids work on activities that promote theirathletic development, while the other two days each week are spenton sport specific skills. Kids are allowed to trans-fer back andforth between the Lifetime Fit-ness and Development classes at theend of each six-week period, if they desire.Students enrolled inthe Pre-Athletics class are tested every eight weeks on theirvertical jump, 20 yard shuttle, 40 yard dash, 400 me-ter run,number of sit-ups in one minute and the number of pushups in oneminute. Kids are given a journal to keep their records and we useit as a motivational tool to place in-spirational quotes andhealthy lifestyle tips. A nutrition piece is incorporatedthroughout the year.

We rotate our sports every three weeks as the attention span ofa sixth grader is still devel-oping. In the spring, we work threedays a week on skill and two days a week on overall athleticdevelopment. We incorporate all of our middle school sports,including tennis and soccer. By doing so, we give our kids thechance to experience all the sports offered in our middle schools.We believe that by offering the two class-es, all kids get a betterexperience and are more engaged in their physical educa-tion. Ifyou would like more in depth in-formation regarding ourprogramming, please feel free to contact our district.[emailprotected]

About the Author:

Steve Griffin Is in his 5th year as assis-tant athletic directorat Eagle Mountain Saginaw ISD. He served 7 years as a headbasketball coach and have served as prin-cipal at 3 secondaryschools including Bo-swell High School.He is in his 28th year ofEducation. I have a masters from the University of North Texas andI hold the CAA certification, through NIAAA.

Striving for Success Starting in the Sixth Grade

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A well-known observation about breach-es of trust, the origin ofwhich has nev-er been conclusively established but is oftenattributed to Mark Twain, is that the saddest thing about betrayalis that it never comes from an enemy, but rather it always comesfrom a friend or trusted ally. As a new school year begins andac-tivities of all types launch new seasons, including sports,band, theatre, choir, de-bate, forensics, academic clubs and otherstudent organizations, booster clubs es-tablished to financiallysupport such en-deavors will also launch new seasons of fundraisingcampaigns.

As those philanthropic efforts begin, school administrators andbooster club officials need to develop and implement proactivestrategies to prevent what has become a problem of increasingdimen-sion nationwide: the misappropriation of club funds by thevery individuals entrusted with the moral and fiduciary duties ofensuring that all monies raised are used exclusively to support theedu-cation-oriented mission of those organi-zations.

In recent years, dozens of cases annually have been reported ofembezzlement by booster club officials, usually volunteers such asparents or community members who were perceived to be trustworthyand reliable before committing their be-trayals of the young peoplethey were pledged to serve. In fact, the antecedent level ofunquestioning faith and confi-dence in those who go on to commitsuch thefts is almost always cited as a key fac-tor contributing tothe lax policies and procedures that provided an opportunity formalfeasance to occur.

Almost every incident of embezzlement leads to both the criminalprosecution of the perpetrator and a civil lawsuit to

recover the misappropriated funds. Yet often, the stolen moniescannot be re-placed, resulting in students being de-prived ofbenefits such as the opportuni-ty to travel to compete or perform;to be provided with equipment, instruments or other resourcesbeyond those which the school can afford; to secure financialassistance to mitigate pay-to-participate fees; to receive boosterclub-provided col-lege scholarships; or to obtain any of theextensive variety of other badly needed forms of support that wouldhave been made possible by the club funds that were stolen.

The following are 10 of the more than 30 cases of booster clubembezzlement that have been litigated or reported in just the lastyear:

• A former school clerk for the Perrysburg (Ohio) Schools wassentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzling over a five-yearperiod more than $800,000 from the high school athletics boosterclub and from the school – monies he used to sup-port a lavishlifestyle that included a large house, luxury cars, a motorhome, aluxu-ry suite at Ohio State football games, and even gifts to theschool’s sports program – a new football stadium scoreboard andbaseball facility sound system – donated using some of the veryfunds he had sto-len from the program and school.

• A former treasurer of the Kimberly (Wisconsin) High Schoolathletics boost-er club pleaded guilty to embezzling more than$60,000 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail followed by two yearsof probation. Responsible for all aspects of the club’s bookkeepingand banking, in-cluding the deposit of cash receipts fromfundraising events, before her sentenc-ing she returned $49,000 ofthe stolen monies, delivered to authorities in pil-lowcases stuffedwith cash.

• A Santa Paula (California) High School

band booster club official pleaded guilty to stealing $22,000and was sentenced to one year in jail followed by five years ofprobation.

• The former treasurer of the Strawberry Plains (Tennessee)Carter High School athletics booster club pleaded guilty toembezzling $33,000 from the organiza-tion and was sentenced to fouryears of probation.

• The former president of the Sand Creek (Michigan) High Schoolmusic program booster club entered a plea deal in ex-change forreduced charges related to his theft of $13,000 from the club andwas sentenced to 30 days in jail instead of the five-year prisonterm he might have re-ceived.

• The former president of the Edmond (Oklahoma) Santa Fe HighSchool cheer booster club was sentenced to 10 years in prison, withall but 90 days being suspended, for her embezzlement of $14,000from the club’s bank accounts.

• A former treasurer of Vista Pop Warner Football & Cheer(New York), who plead-ed guilty to stealing $114,000 from theorganization and was sentenced to one year in jail followed by fiveyears of pro-bation, is also now accused of embezzling more than$6,000 from the Shaker High School All Sport Booster Club bywriting and cashing checks made out to cash, with the proceeds thenused by her for personal purchases.

• A former treasurer of the Wheatland (California) High Schoolbooster club turned herself in after being accused of stealing morethan $15,000 from the or-ganization and in the process emptying theaccount that was to be used to grant multiple college scholarshipsto students.

• A former treasurer of the Sammamish

Booster Club Embezzlement: Legal Issues, Preventive StrategiesByLee Green, J.D. on September 12, 2016 Reprinted with Permission ofthe National Federation of State High School Associations(NFHS)

Betrayal

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(Washington) Skyline High School boost-er club returned $31,000of what an ini-tial forensic audit indicates was more than $100,000stolen from the organiza-tion that supports 80 sports andextra-curricular activities at the school, with the investigationongoing by local pros-ecutors into the full extent of thecrime.

• A former treasurer of the Fullerton (Cal-ifornia) RangersSoccer League, a youth sports nonprofit, was arrested foral-legedly embezzling what a forensic audit revealed to be morethan $174,000 and was charged with grand theft, money laundering,forgery of official records and income tax evasion.

The Fraud TriangleDeveloped by sociologist Donald R. Cressey andnow used by criminologists and forensic accountants forunderstand-ing the typical circ*mstances that lead to trustedindividuals committing crimes of betrayal, the “fraud triangle” iscomprised of three components: 1) opportunity, 2) financialpressure and 3) rationalization.

Opportunity: Persons who embezzle funds tend to be those inpositions of opportunity to abuse a position of trust and whobelieve they have a low risk of getting caught because of weakinter-nal controls, lack of policy enforcement, and theirend-to-end authority over cash control and bank accounts. Forinstance, oftentimes, a sole booster club official is entrustedwith the organization’s entire financial process, including thedeposit of cash into bank accounts, the issuance of checks tovendors and the reconciliation of all transactions in the club’sbooks. Opportunity can sway the otherwise honest and policiesallowing opportu-nity create a zone of temptation for the personwho might not have under other circ*mstances devised and carriedout an embezzlement scheme.

Financial Pressure: When combined with opportunity, some type offinancial bur-

den – real or perceived – is a common incentive for committingfraud. Typical monetary pressures asserted by embez-zlers as thereason for their wrongdoing include excessive debt, financialdifficul-ties paying personal bills, excessive credit cardobligations resulting from living be-yond their means, monetarychallenges while going through a divorce or a family financialcrisis, or simple greed for an en-hanced lifestyle.

Rationalization: Fraudsters typically ra-tionalize to justifytheir dishonest actions as somehow not being in violation ofnor-mative codes of ethical conduct, often by adopting a mindsetthat they are only borrowing the money, that they will soon repayany diverted funds, that they are taking such a small amount thatno one will be harmed, that they have to steal be-cause offinancial pressures beyond their control, that their thievery willonly be temporary and will end as soon as their financial pressuressubside, that they are being dishonest only because they desire tobetter support their families, or that they are entitled to themoney because of their hard work for the organization.

The fraud triangle has become a wide-ly-used tool for lawenforcement when conducting criminal investigations and accountingfirms when conducting foren-sic audits. However, its most usefulappli-cation may be that its three components also can serve as thefoundation for or-ganizations of all types, including em-ployers,nonprofits, schools and booster clubs, to develop strategiesdesigned to eliminate or minimize the elements that provide thetriangle with its structure and strength – to essentially “breakthe triangle” – thereby reducing the likeli-hood of fraudulentactivity such as em-bezzlement being perpetrated in the firstplace.

RecommendationsIn order to break the fraud triangle and minimizethe chances of embezzlement

by a school official or club officer, boost-er organizationsshould consider imple-menting some basic guidelines andpro-cedures:

• Do not allow one person to handle all of a club’s financialprocesses. Divide duties between booster club members: separate theresponsibility of counting monies from the deposit of those fundsinto the bank; separate the task of cutting checks to pay vendorsfrom the reconciliation of the booster club’s checkbook; andsepa-rate the job of keeping the club’s books from conductinginternal audits of those books. Division of labor is one of themost effective strategies for eliminating the opportunity tosteal.

• Rotate, on a regular basis, club officers such as president,treasurer and other positions with control over financialpro-cesses. Many of the high-dollar cases of embezzlement involvingbooster clubs are perpetrated by someone who has un-interruptedcontrol over club finances for a multi-year period of time, therebyfacil-itating an ongoing theft because of the absence of checks andbalances on that person’s autonomy. Rotation of duties is anotherof the most effective strategies for eliminating the opportunity toem-bezzle.

• Mandate that all monies collected from any fundraisingactivity immediately be deposited into a bank drop box and that nobooster club member is ever to take cash home. Cash controls are ofpara-mount importance in reducing the op-portunity to steal; whencash is received, two people should count it and recon-ciliationpaperwork should be signed by each. Never allow one person to haveend-to-end control over cash.

• Require two signatures on every check cut to pay a vendor, twoendorsem*nts for every withdrawal from or change to a club’s bankaccount and a “For Depos-it Only” stamp to be placed on everyre-ceived check by someone different than the person who willprocess the check.

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It is with great pleasure that I inform you that two athleticdirectors from the THSADA Region VII were recently hon-ored bytheir home communities with stadium dedications in the Rio GrandeValley.

First, Sharyland ISD in Sharyland, Texas named its footballstadium after Coach Richard “Dickey” Thompson. This Shary-land ISDemployee has dedicated over 30 years to his district and continuesto serve in the capacity of athletic director. The district decidedto rename the exist-ing Rattlers Stadium in his honor.

Most recently, Edinburg CISD in Edin-burg, Texas, also named itsstadium after an athletic director. Coach Richard R. Flores has theunique distinction of at-tending that school district and stadiumas a student and athlete.

Typically these types of honors are be-stowed posthumously andit is very for-tunate that these stadium dedication cer-emonieswere able to take place while the

honorees were able to attend.

School districts have several options when naming their footballstadiums. Usually the stadiums carry the name of the team’s mascotbut that was not the case during these occasions.

This proves that athletic directors make a tremendous impact ontheir school dis-tricts and communities. These gentlemen servedcountless numbers of students as role models and leaders. Thesestadiums will serve as tributes to these gentlemen that went aboveand beyond for their stu-dents.

Coach Richard R. Flores Biography:Edinburg ConsolidatedIndependent School District’s Cats Stadium will now be calledRichard R. Flores Stadium to honor Coach Richard R. Flores, who wasan ath-letic director and head football coach for ECISD from 1975to 2000. Flores went

121-37-3 with Rio Hondo, Lyford and his alma mater, EdinburgHigh School, lead-ing the EHS Bobcats to nine playoff wins and twostate quarterfinal appearances in the 1980s.

• Booster club boards should, as one of their key functions,create annual bud-gets and as a group reconcile those bud-gets on aquarterly or annual basis to closely monitor the in-flow andout-flow of club funds.

• Ensure that appropriate accounting and record-keepingprocedures are in place and being adhered to and that all com-puterfiles containing the club’s corporate book and financial recordsare backed up so that they do not exist merely on one clubofficial’s computer.

• Seek the volunteer services of an inde-pendent accountant whowill donate time as a friend of the organization to con-

duct periodic audits of the booster club’s books and ensure thatproper accounting procedures are adhered to by the club’s treasurerand other officials.

• Purchase fidelity bond insurance with adequate coverage limitsto protect against losses from embezzlement. $1 million peroccurrence and $2 million aggregate is a commonly recommendedstandard for booster clubs.

• Ensure that all federal, state and local le-gal mandatesregarding the operation of booster clubs are being followed,includ-ing IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit registration requirements, IRS501(c)(3) tax return filing mandates, state statutes governingnonprofit incorporation and record-keep-

ing rules, state laws specifically regulating booster clubs andparent-teacher organi-zations, state agency rules addressing salesand use tax permits, state board of education or state activityassociation re-quirements for booster clubs, and school districtgovernance mandates for clubs.

For assistance in developing and imple-menting proper proceduresand monitor-ing compliance with federal, state and local laws,consider using the services of a booster club support organizationsuch as the National Booster Club Training Coun-cil(http://boosterclubs.org/) or Parent Booster USA(http://parentbooster.org/).

THSADA Region VII Athletic Directors Get Rio Grand ValleyStadium Dedications

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ECISD’s only football stadium has been called Cats Stadium since1992 when the district added its second high school. Now sharingthe stadium are the EHS Bobcats, Edinburg North High SchoolCougars, Economedes High School Jag-uars and Vela High SchoolSabercats.

“The stadium is finally getting a name that is representative ofthe many ed-ucators that inspire our students,” said ECISDAssistant Superintendent for Cur-riculum & Instruction EvaTorres, who organized and managed the process of naming thefootball stadium. “The leg-endary Coach Flores was an educator thatmade a difference in children’s lives and he’s inspired others tobecome edu-cators and even coaches.”

On February 29, the ECISD Board of Trustees voted in favor ofthe name change, which was presented by a Nam-ing Committee thatincluded the follow-ing members of the community: Jaime Chavana,Sherri Cunningham-Carlson, Eloy Pulido, Bill Reynolds, RomanRodri-guez and Obie Salinas.

Flores was extremely humbled when he heard the news. He said hefelt very bless-ed to have the stadium named after him.

“Edinburg is my hometown and I am beyond proud to leave thislegacy,” said Flores. “It’s not only a testament of my enjoyment offootball, but it signifies the teamwork and support of all thecoaches that I’ve worked with along the way. There have been manytalented coaches that have helped shape Edinburg football.”

Richard Thompson Biography:For his birthday this year, SISDAthlet-ic Director Richard Thompson got what perhaps any highschool sports enthusi-ast would want for his birthday–a foot-ballstadium. No, Sharyland Indepen-

dent School District did not literally give Thompson a footballstadium on his 59th birthday last Thursday, but school leaders diddo the next best thing–they named one after him. They made therenaming of the former Rattlers Stadium to Rich-ard ThompsonStadium official in a ded-ication ceremony attended by students,faculty, school board members, Mission city officials and membersof the Thomp-son family.

“Since Sharyland is going to two high schools now we’re notgoing to be just home of the Rattlers anymore,” Richter said.“We’re going to be home of the Rat-tlers and the Diamondbacks, andwith our new early college high school we also have the Cobras.Since our stadium was named Rattlers Stadium, our board met severalmonths and approved the renam-ing of the stadium after CoachRichard “Dickey” Thompson, who has been with

the district for 30-plus years, and today we are holding thededication of Richard Thompson Stadium.”

While the name change is now official, and there is a new signabove the home side press box that bears the stadium’s new name,Richter said the transition from Rattlers Stadium to RichardThomp-son Stadium is not yet complete.

The district also will change the score-board, which now reads,“Home of the Rattlers.”

During the football game between the

Rattlers and the Diamondbacks this year, the district will havea public dedication of Richard Thompson Stadium, which will includethe unveiling of a bronze plaque.

At the ceremony last week, Thompson thanked all the speakers forthe kind words they had just shared and he voiced how special aplace Sharyland is and how dear it is to his heart. He said havingthe stadium bear his name is humbling for him and his family. Healso took the op-portunity to thank the district for theop-portunity he has had to serve in what is now his 35th year withthe district.

Thompson came close to pursuing a ca-reer in a completelydifferent field.

“My mother wanted me to be a music director,” Thompson said witha smile as those in attendance burst out in laughter. “She alwaysloved music so I majored in music for a year but then I came backand I told her that I didn’t want to be a music director. I toldher that I didn’t want to direct a school choir or be a musicmin-ister in church, and I told her that I was probably not goingto make it big in New York. I told her that I wanted to go toBaylor University and change my major to athletics.”

Thompson took a few minutes to share how his Christian faith hassustained him not only through his coaching career but throughouthis life as well.

“The Lord says that His grace is suffi-cient for all–that meansthrough good, through bad and through difficult times,” Thompsonsaid I was born and raised in a Christian family so those valueshave carried on with me when I’ve failed as I have many times. Youhave to go to the Lord in good and bad times and His faith issufficient for all and it is certainly suf-ficient for me.”

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Jim Streety grew up in Smiley, Texas where he played football,basketball and ran track at Smiley High School. After graduatingfrom Southwest Texas State University, Jim began his coachingcareer at San Marcos Junior High School. In 1970 he moved to NewBraunfels High School where he was an assistant in football,basketball and track until March, 1974 when he became head coachand athletic director. In 1976, New Braunfels made their firstplayoff appearance In twenty-five years and followed that with atotal of ten playoff teams In the seventeen years Streety was headcoach. Included are four semi-final teams and a record of 149-45-2.In March, 1991, Jim moved to Madison High School in the NortheastIndependent School District as head coach and athletic coordinator.His twenty-three years there brought seventeen more playoff teamsincluding ten quarterfinalists, three semifinalists and a careerrecord of 343-131-3 which makes Jim the fourth winning-est coach inthe history of Texas high school football and the top winner in theAAAAA classification. In forty years as head coach Streety hadtwenty-seven playoff teams, including sixteen quarter-finalists andseven semifinalists, but his greatest memories come from thelasting relationships established with players and fellow coachesand their families and the opportunity to be a daily, positiveinfluence on our youth. In February, 2014, Jim was named AthleticDirector for the New Braunfels Independent School District. He wasinducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame In May,2015. Jim and his wife Janie, have two children; Steven, Kimber,son-in-law, Shae and grandsons, Connor, Cade, Arnold, Fabian andJovani.

Career Highlights

• Texas High School Coaches Assn. President

• THSCA All-Star Coach

• THSCA Hall of Honor-1999• Tom Landry Award-2003• UIL SponsorExcellence Award-2005• San Antonio Quarterback Club

Coach of the Year-2001, 2005, 2007 &2011

• San Antonio Express-News Coach of the Year-2007 & 2011

• 343 career victories• 39 straight years without a losing

season

• Fourth winningest coach in THSCA history

• Texas High School Football Hall of Fame-2015

What are the differences between being a Head Football Coach andAD to being a straight AD at a multi-high school district?

We all know that any time you are tied to football, you hadbetter give that assignment all the time that it requires. When youare straight AD, you have to trust the Head Football Coach to takecare of football and you empower him and the other Head Coacheswith what they need to have a chance to be successful.

What 2-3 things should a new AD be prepared for when beginning afirst or new AD position?

1. To fix all of the things that were wrong with the previousAD.

2. To make all of the coaching changes that the previous ADdidn't make.

3. To be prepared to hear "we've never done it that way.”

What challenges do you see for the role of AD in the nextseveral years?

1. To be sure all staff are on the same page in teachingCharacter Education

and to require all of the teams to have a community serviceproject.

2. To never stop trying to engage the community in yourprogram.

3. To be sure we always dwell on the positives.

4. To take advantage of marketing and sponsorshipopportunities.

5. To never compromise on the importance of coaches being rolemodels.

6. To have the courage to make changes when they need to bemade.

What attributes or qualities do you think make a good AD?

1. Has to be a "people" person.2. Has to have the respect ofstaff.3. Has to be able to sell his program.4. Has to be able todelegate.5. Has to be able to find some balance

in life.

Getting to Know: JIM STREETY New Braunfels ISD18

Todd York - Georgetown ISDDena Scott - Fort Bend ISDLealAnderson - Austin ISD

David Kilpatrick - Ennis ISDMarla Brumfield - Alief ISD

Armando Jacinto - Spring ISDBeck Brydon - Austin RegentsSchool

Valerie Little - McKinney ISDBecky Spurlock - Keller ISD

Paula Gonzalez - McAllen ISDAlice Melendez - St. Agnes

THSADA Publications Committee:

THSADA NEWSLETTER / November 2016

Whataburger’s commitment to professional and youth sports datesall the way back to 1950 when the very first restaurant opened inCorpus Christi, Texas. Whataburger’s founder, Harmon Dobson,supported local Little League teams, and 65 years later,Whataburger continues to play an active role in youth, high schooland college level sports. The Whataburger Group Dining program isjust one way Whataburger aims to make it easier for coaches andteachers to focus on their teams. When traveling to away games,competitions and events, coaches and teachers can use the programto call ahead with the number of people in their group and theirapproximate time of arrival at their closest Whataburgerrestaurant. From there, the Whataburger crew will

be on hand and ready to feed the team, provide the excellentservice customers have come to expect from Whataburger, and havethe team back on the road in no time.

“I’ve enjoyed using the Whataburger Group Dining program fornearly 10 years throughout my career, and couldn’t imagine takingstudents anywhere else after a big game,” said Sheldon ISD CampusAthletic Coordinator Head Football Coach Don Price. “Theconvenience and reliability of the program make it worth the stopeach time we’re on the road, and the ease of the process, combinedwith a quality product that speaks for itself, puts our hardworkingcoaches at ease while making the players happy with a deliciousmeal.” When they participate in the Group Dining program, coachesand teachers can pay for meals with their Group Dining Card insteadof using cash. Athletic directors and coaches will then receive aninvoice from the Whataburger manager to take back to their billingdepartment. In addition,

Whataburger offers group discounts and the group leader alwayseats free. Additional benefits of the program include one free mealfor every 10 purchased, and for groups of 20 or more, two peopleeat free. For more information about the program and to fill outthe online application, please visit Whataburger.com and look underthe “Group Dining” tab on the Community page. Whataburger iscommitted to great service, and the Group Dining program is justone way for Whataburger to help coaches and teachers concentrate onbringing home the W. Family-owned Whataburger has proudly servedits famous burgers for 65 years and continues to deliver fresh,made-to-order meals every day with extraordinary customer service.Headquartered in San Antonio, Whataburger has successfully expandedfrom a single burger stand in 1950 to a thriving family of morethan 790 restaurants across 10 states today.

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Whataburger Group Dining Program