As with the start of any new season on the path around the Falls, a review of the rules, especially any changes, is a good idea. This advice applies most often when it comes to sports.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) sanctions all high school sports activities in Wisconsin. Its pattern is to have a rules meeting with coaches and officials well in advance of each season. Coaches then pass the word along to athletes and parents, and periodically discuss the rules during practice.
Similar processes are used for professional sports. Sometimes the rule changes are for spectators. Spectators entering Lambeau Field for Packers games this year will face a number of additional restrictions as to what they can bring into the stadium. One of the most noticeable will be the use of clear plastic bags for carry-in items.
With the start of the new school term less than two weeks away, in some places there will be changes in rules for students. There will also be rule changes for school districts that ultimately affect the way schools operate.
Some of these have made the news, such as the new statewide voucher system. This was a very late addition to the state budget, and many of the rules were written on the fly, with almost no advance notice. One has to have sympathy for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction as it began to implement what the Legislature and governor conceptualized. It had no additional staff to make this major initiative a reality. There must have been a lot of midnight oil burned. There were deadlines that had to be met.
Some of the rule changes come from the federal level. A few days ago we received a letter telling us about the “All Foods Sold in Schools” interim final rule. “Interim final rule” is an interesting fed speak concept that seems to be an oxymoron, but we will leave that discussion to the English department.
The letter said the rule makes significant adjustments in the school environment and reaches far past the traditional meal service. The letter made reference to an attached flier and listed a website where additional information could be found.
The only problem was there was no brochure, and the URL came back “page not found.” These proposed changes follow a number of other significant changes in the National School Lunch Program that were implemented last fall and met with some resistance. Midway through the last school year, some of those new rules were modified to be less restrictive.
Most of these changes come as a result of federal legislation known as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA). The name has nothing to do with Franz Kafka, even though they sound similar. While this is all well-intentioned, schools will again be called upon to solve some of society’s problems. Kafka was a great problem solver, too.
The letter certainly was quite persuasive that this was an important directive coming out of Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, exactly what those rule changes will look like is a bit foggy or perhaps obscured by the steam coming out of the steam kettle in a school kitchen.
To be honest, the letter said that the rules have to be implemented July 1, 2014, but getting a heads-up would have been nice. Perhaps the information is in the mail or the IT guys couldn’t get the information out because they had their hours cut to balance the budget. Eventually, these very important rule changes will reach us, and we will be sure to drop everything to take it all in.
In the meantime, we have a new school year to get ready for. As this is written, we are fully staffed for the first day of school, even though there have been hints that a few key people are in the process of last-minute interviewing for different positions.
There have been a number of parent meetings in school buildings, many fall sports teams are on the practice fields, and families new to the district are enrolling. A dozen-plus new teachers will join us Thursday as they begin their work with the school district. Adding to the start of the school year preparations, Mother Nature will bring temperatures in the 90s this weekend. Some rules never seem to be broken.
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