By Steve Van Kooten

The Clayton Ridge School District Board of Directors looked at several policies during their meeting on Thursday, Aug. 13, including a revisit of a policy for Sunday and Monday practices and activities.

The Board previously discussed the practice schedule at their July 9 meeting. At the time, Marley said he needed more time to collect data before putting forth a policy recommendation. A board member made the initial request to review the policy in June.

Marley provided a summary of his outreach to other districts, which included Central (Elkader), South Winneshiek, New Hampton, Crestwood, Turkey Valley, North Fayette Valley and MFL MarMac. Marley also contacted districts that have four-day weeks.

"I'm pretty confident to tell you in my conversations with the six superintendents of school districts with a four-day week there's nobody that has a hard policy that says no practices at all on Mondays or Sundays," he said.

The proposed policy submitted to the Board prohibited open gyms, mandatory practices, competitions and several other "school-sponsored activities" on Sundays without written permission, with exceptions for certain circumstances. The policy said requests for Sunday activities had to be submitted in writing and approved by the district's activities director and the building principal. Approval then has to be sent to the superintendent.

"If we had a hard-nose policy on not allowing practices, I guarantee you there'll be a time when our administration comes to me and says, 'Jay, we've got this unique situation,' and I'll have to call a special board meeting to make a waiver to that hard-no policy," Marley told the Board.

Marley's meeting notes said postseason competition and "other situations in the best interest of the students" were some of the exceptions that would be considered.

"I know there are kids who need an outlet," he said. "They need an escape."

Under the policy, any Sunday activities would be voluntary, with no penalties for students who don't participate.

The policy also affirmed the expectation that activities on Mondays would not start before 4 p.m.

Discussion at the July meeting weighed the option of letting Monday practices begin earlier than 4 p.m.; however, Athletics Director Adam Radcliffe had pushed back on that, saying, "We kind of promised the community we wouldn't have Mondays be filled with anything school to pass the four-day [week], and I feel like we shouldn't go back on that."

Board members questioned different aspects of the proposed policy.

TJ Pierce, who also serves as a coach with the district, pointed out that requiring written permission for Sunday activities may cause issues.

"I've sat in my house on Sunday afternoon and [received] calls and texts from kids saying, 'Hey, can we go to the gym and play basketball?'" he said. "We've been doing that since I was a kid, and it has never been an issue... It's never been a problem."

Pierce said those activities weren't mandatory practices and served more as an outlet for kids to have a place to go and something to do. "If we can't do it because we have to have it in writing, that's making those kids go do something else."

Board president Jessica Bittner said she supported having the open gyms available and asked about removing that from the list of activities requiring written permission to use the school facilities. She suggested the possibility of specifying the policy for mandatory practices. Bittner's suggestion received support from other board members.

Marley said he would take the policy back for "clean up" and return in September with a new version for the Board the review.

Other business

- approved the second reading of a policy increasing hourly compensation for activity transportation. The district previously paid $20 for driving and non-driving time during activity transportation. The change increases the rate to $22 per hour.

- approved the 2026-27 contract with Northeast Iowa Community College for Senior Year Plus and Concurrent Enrollment. The district also participates in the Northeast Iowa Health Occupations Academy as part of the agreement. Marley's notes say the costs stayed consistent with the previous agreement.

- approved an agreement with Guttenberg Municipal Hospital for athletic training and sports services. It provides the school with coverage for designated high school activities and eight hours per week for training and practice coverage.