NEBRASKA CITY – The Nebraska City School Board’s decision to charge players from other schools to participate in co-op agreement sports appears to be a source of division between incumbent school board members and new school board candidates.

The school board voted 6-0 on April 11 to charge Lourdes Central Catholic students $150 to participate in co-op sports and charge students from outside the district $300. Currently, the school has out-of-district co-op agreements with Johnson-Brock and Johnson County Central.

Superintendent Mark Fritch said the school board directed him to compare Nebraska City’s no-charge policy with the rest of the state and he learned it is a rare arrangement.

He said the school board wants to continue to offer opportunities through co-op sports programs, but also needs to reduce expenditures at a time when expenses, such as officials pay, are rising.

About 40 people attended a school board candidate meet and greet Tuesday at Calvary Community Church, where speakers were unified in opposition to charging the in-district players.

Candidate Wynee Benedict said Lourdes parents already pay enough in property taxes and school tuition.

Benedict: “I am not running in opposition to current members. I am running to offer a new perspective to the board.”

Benedict created the “Get to Know the 2020 Nebraska City Public School Board Candidates” group on Facebook, which features herself, Melissa McClanahan, Christopher Ely and Rick Bennie.

These four are endorsed by The Protect Nebraska Children  PAC, which lists fiscal responsibility, transparency and academic focus as endorsement points.

Also attending the meet and greet was candidate Rob Elson. Incumbent candidates Kent Blum, Stacie Higgins and Stephen Luther were attending a school board meeting. Luther and Higgins were absent from the April 11 meeting when the school adopted the player charges.

McClanahan said The Protect Nebraska Children PAC candidates  are not running as a team, but do share the same Christian morals and values. She said election of candidates endorsed by Protect Nebraska Children PAC would impact the school board.

McClanahan: “We all want to see changes in our district. Electing new members, in my opinion, is the only way to do that.”

 

Candidate Christopher Ely spoke at the April 11 meeting before the school board, but draft minutes of the meeting do not mention any public comment.

Ely said he was opposed to the player charge.

Ely: “Students living in the district, but not attending the public school, are in fact unburdening the public schools, for which we should be grateful. They are the last folks that should be charged extra.”

 

Superintendent Fritch said the decision has been over a year in the making and included meetings between himself and school officials from Lourdes, Johnson-Brock and Johnson County Central.

He said Johnson-Brock and Johnson County Central schools are satisfied with the agreement, but the in-district school objected.

Fritch said his research indicated that Nebraska City was one of only two districts in the state that did not share responsibility for costs with co-op schools.

He said Hastings public, St. Cecilia and Adams Central co-op only in swimming and Hastings pays all the costs.

Wahoo public, Bishop Neumann and Lincoln Lutheran co-op in baseball, but co-op schools pay 25 percent of costs.

Humphrey public school splits costs 50/50 with Lindsey Holy Family for co-op sport and Humphrey pays all the transportation.

Fritch said the player charge was arrived at by dividing operating costs by the number of participants. Operating costs in the calculation do not include coaches and transportation.

Nebraska City offers 12 sports in co-op agreements –  girls and boys golf, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls cross country, softball, baseball, boys and girls wrestling and boys and girls soccer.

Fritch said program costs average $23,000 to $25,000 annually.

Fritch: “This is not a Nebraska City public schools or a Lourdes Central Catholic problem. This is something  the community has to decide-- if these opportunities or programs are important for our children. Because, how schools are funded, it’s  going to be difficult to offer these opportunities.”

 

He said the player charges are not the total answer to the Nebraska City school’s financial struggle.

Fritch: “It’s a Band-Aid so we can provide opportunities for another year or two.”

A NCTC candidate forum is also scheduled at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, at the Nebraska City High School.

Candidates for county board, Nebraska City street commissioner and Nebraska School board are invited.

There will be two minute introductions and two to three questions that are developed by NCTC’s governmental affairs committee.