By Casey Jarmes
The News-Review
PACKWOOD – During a special meeting on Feb. 17, the Pekin School Board appointed Hedrick resident JD Olinger to fill the vacancy left by Michael Sieren. Olinger explained that he grew up in Davis County and had three sons go to Pekin, two of whom still attend. He currently works for the Keokuk County Highway Department.
Also at the Monday meeting, the board discussed a series of open enrollment requests. One request, from a high school student who wishes to transfer to WACO, came with a request to waive the 90 day athletics ban for the student. The student plans to stay at Pekin for the rest of the year, then start at WACO in the fall, where she would then have to wait 90 school days before competing. Superintendent Jeff Maeder noted that WACO is a four-day school.
Board member Josh Arendt pointed out that the letter sent to the school stated the student suffered distress while at Pekin and asked if steps had been taken to address things. Maeder stated he had not spoken with the family, but that he believed they had spoken with the athletic director.
Board member Mike Davis stated he didn’t care if the student’s family found a loophole and that the 90-day waiting period was put in place for a reason. He asked, if everything is so bad at Pekin, like claimed by the letter, why does the younger sibling of the student still attend, when things aren’t going to get any better? Davis stated that the student will play on an elite team with kids who don’t go to Pekin. He stated that sports aren’t the priority at Pekin anymore and that they have to put academics first, and said he wouldn’t vote to waive the waiting period.
Board member Sherry Bemis stated that this would set a precedent and could result in more students asking for exemptions, and that the board had to be consistent. The board ultimately approved the open-enrole request, but tabled the discussion of waiving the athletic wait period to give them time to get more information.
