Squabble over 'Scrabble' aired at Eastern School Board meeting

Now, how clubs raise money and who deserves to share in the proceeds could soon be spelled out in a revised building use policy.

The Scrabble Club, which has held a silent auction for about eight years, was told it would need to contribute 10 percent of its profits from the annual event should it occur in the high school, providing the fund with up to $400, board member Shelly Patterson said.

Board members Patterson and Donnie James raised the concern, with James suggesting the academic club is getting penalized for their successes.

"There's this thought that maybe because the Scrabble Club is very successful with their fundraiser, they are being punished for that success because other groups are wanting to tap into that," he said. "I think competition is a good thing, but I'm not sure competition between our schools is."

The request for profit-sharing, made by Eastern High School Principal Kevin Frank, stems from multiple factors. One is the construction of the new high school, which means for the first time, the elementary, middle and high schools are in separate facilities.

A second factor, per discussion, is a tight competition for fundraising dollars between extracurricular activities, Frank said.

Traditionally, student involvement declines in fundraising events as they age, with greater participation among the youngest classes, Frank said.

In recent years, the decision has largely been left to the school principals to establish policies of use.

"Our principals have been directed to be our leaders on this," said board member Kimberly Waldridge. "If they're not working together as a team, then that's a different issue for the board to deal with."

The proper method to establish if and how profit sharing between groups and schools occurs is likely the building use plan, said board President Lane Corbin.

"We have only so much money, and so many groups competing for it, that it causes so much animosity," he said.

Superintendent Ty Mungle said earlier in the evening the building use policy needs revisions, with a need to require insurance and a method of ensuring the buildings are secured once groups finish use.

"We have to ask whether we treat individuals differently than we do groups, and so forth," he said.

Mungle also announced that the Greene County Health Department will administer H1N1 flu shots free for students in grades 4 though 12 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday.

The shots, administered on the stage in the middle school gymnasium, will not be given without parental permission slips, sent home Friday and available on the school's website.

Children younger than 4th grade and those whose parents wish to be present for the shots can be vaccinated between 3 and 5 p.m.