Open-enrolled students able to join Burlington's swimming program after board vote
The Burlington School Board allowed students from other districts and private schools to participate in Burlington's swimming program Monday.
On July 25, the school board denied a request from the West Burlington School District to allow students open-enrolled out of the Burlington School District to participate in Burlington's swimming program and voted 6-1 to allow West Burlington the chance to participate so long as it honors that stipulation.
Burlington schools' business director Greg Reynolds noted that West Burlington had opted not to participate in Burlington's swimming program for the past several years due to legal concerns surrounding the language in the agreement prohibiting the participation of open-enrolled students from Burlington.
During that same meeting, the board approved the continuation of other 28E swimming agreements with Danville, Central Lee, Mt. Pleasant, Fort Madison, Holy Trinity and Burlington Notre Dame (all of which agreed to honor Burlington's stipulation against open-enrolled participants).
But during Monday's meeting, Burlington Superintendent Robert Scott informed the board that, despite having the stipulation being honored and enforced in previous years, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union told the district it would not approve the agreements with the current language, citing a difference in legal interpretation.
"I know we had our legal counsel here and they said we could put (the stipulation prohibiting open-enrolled Burlington students) in there and (West Burlington) has their legal counsel," Scott explained to the board. "Lawyers see things in different ways and have different views in the way that they interpret things. And currently the one that holds the union and certifies our athletics is the just saying they are not going to approve it this time with the current language."
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The board voted unanimously to approve the new agreements without the language prohibiting open-enrolled students, citing the fact the the first swim meet was scheduled to take place Tuesday and noting that only Burlington district students would be allowed to participate in the program this year if they did not honor the union's request. Board members agreed that it would be unfair to deny students from the other districts and schools that had already begun practicing the opportunity to compete this year.
But board members Darven Kendell and Scott Mason voiced their disapproval of the union's position and opposition to allowing students and families who have chosen to leave the district to retain the benefit of Burlington's athletics programs.
"I've coached in this district. I've seen enough kids leave our district for one reason or another," Mason said. "I've seen the impact of these moves on younger siblings. I've seen siblings in tears at having to move from our district to another because of decisions that were made by parents. Maybe it's a controversial take, but a lot of times I don't feel like these moves are necessarily made by the kids themselves. ... If you leave our district, but you cherry-pick the things you get to take advantage of, that's troublesome for me."
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While Mason and Kendell both initially agreed to support the amended agreements because of the short notice the union had given the board and to support the students participating, both indicated they may not support the union's stipulation in future agreements.
"I support students. I really want to give students every opportunity to they can (have)," Kendell said. "But I'm on the Burlington School District board of directors. Therefore, I feel like I have to look out for the best interest for the Burlington Community School District. ... And to allow someone to open enroll out and come back and say, 'We want to swim.' Don't leave in the first place."
Scott recommended that the district begin working on the agreements for the 2023-24 school year in March or April to decide if the district will pursue prohibiting open-enrolled student participation in the future.
Brad Vidmar covers public safety and education for The Hawk Eye and can be reached via email at BVidmar@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Open-enrolled students can swim for Burlington after board vote
