Chair Cale Langston wants to reevaluate required transport for teams
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor
In the discussion portion of last week’s school board meeting, Chair Cale Langston informed fellow board members that he is investigating the requirement that sports teams and clubs be transported by school personnel and vehicles.
Langston said he was looking into the matter over concern that some teams and clubs – newly recognized as Tier 1 organizations not required to pay rent for facilities – want parents to transport the students.
For example, Langston noted that one travel team plays in Tampa and Atlanta – and that parents, not the district, had been responsible for travel in the past.
Langston said he had talked to other districts about the matter, and had contacted the Wakulla district’s insurance provider to see if there would be an issue.
There was no action taken on the issue at the meeting on Monday, Feb. 20. But other school board members indicated they were supportive of the change.
Then discussion shifted to a proposal put forth by school board member Melisa Taylor and withdrawn before the meeting that would have prohibited public comment at workshops.
Members Laura Lawhon and Eddie Hand brought up the withdrawn policy, though Taylor questioned why it was under discussion since it had been withdrawn.
Taylor did say, however, that “Some school board members have been adversarial with district staff for political reasons.”
Lawhon said she thought she was being referred to in Taylor’s comments.
Hand said he was “very dissatisfied” with the proposal being taken off the agenda, calling it a “chicken move.” Hand indicated he felt the proposal should have been put to a vote.
Lawhon made a call for more collective work by the board, and Taylor responded: “My biggest problem is that the board is not working together.”
The meeting closed with Lawhon claiming a citizen appearing at a school board meeting was accosted by a district staffer who questioned why they were there. Asked after the meeting who was the citizen, Lawhon said she couldn’t divulge the name of the person without permission.
