Amended the meeting agenda to add item C-16 regarding the elimination of membership fees on the Annual Ballot.

Determined to change the district format in Class 5 football from eight to 11 districts with 10 four-team districts and one five-team district. Further, the Football Advisory Committee will discuss the possibility of allowing Class 5 schools in five-team districts to begin district play a week sooner if this problem of having an odd number of teams arises in future cycles.

Motion Brown, Davis second, to enter into closed session for matters involving legal actions or litigation involving MSHSAA including any confidential or privileged communications between the MSHSAA and its attorney. Section 610.021(1) R.S.Mo. Motion passed 9-0 on a roll call vote with Brown, Keel, Richards, Sumy, Gohn, Davis, Edwards, Kinder, and Cornish voting yes.

Motion Richards, Cornish second, to return to open session. Motion passed 9-0 on a roll call vote with Brown, Keel, Richards, Sumy, Gohn, Davis, Edwards, Kinder, and Cornish voting yes.

No action was reported out of closed session.

Approved minutes of the following meetings: November 28-29, 2007, Board of Directors meeting; December 12, 2007, Board of Directors Telephone Conference Call; January 16, 2008, Appeals Committee Three-Member Panel Telephone Conference Call.

Approved the following general consent items:

Nonfaculty Coaches Approved (By-Law 124) (See web site for current listing)

Transfer Waiver Applications (By-Law 238.3-a-9) (Duplicate school names indicates an additional transfer(s) student(s) for that school): Alton, Barstow, Bayless, Beaumont, Beaumont, Beaumont, Beaumont, Beaumont, Beaumont, Carl Junction, Carthage, Central (Springfield), Central (St. Joseph), Clayton, Clever, College Heights Christian School, Delta (Deering), Delta (Deering), Diamond, Dora, E.H. Lyle Academy Charter, Fox, Fox, Ft. Zumwalt East, Ft. Zumwalt East, Ft. Zumwalt North, Ft. Zumwalt North, Grandview, Herculaneum, Hickman, Hickman, Hickman, Hillcrest, Joplin, Lafayette (Wildwood), Lindbergh, Lindbergh, Lutheran South, Lutheran South, Marquand-Zion, Marquand-Zion, McCluer North, Midway, Midway, Mt. Vernon, Neosho, New Haven, Normandy, Normandy, Northeast Law & Public Service, Northwest (Hughesville), Notre Dame de Sion, O'Hara, Orrick, Orrick, Osage, Owensville, Owensville, Park Hill, Parkway North, Parkway North, Parkway North, Penney, Raytown South, Renaissance Academy, Renaissance Academy, Renaissance Academy, Risco, Scott City, South (Joplin) Middle School, South (Joplin) Middle School, St. Francis Borgia, St. Joseph Christian, St. Mary's (Independence), St. Pius X (Festus), Sumner, Trinity Catholic, Union, Vashon, Vianney, Warrensburg, Webster Groves, Winfield.

Transfer Hardship Applications (By-Law 238.3-a-8) (Duplicate school names indicates an additional transfer(s) student(s) for that school): Ballard, Bishop DuBourg, Bishop LeBlond, Bishop LeBlond, Blue Springs South, Bosworth, Bradleyville, Brentwood, Cainsville, Camdenton, Cameron, Cameron, Caruthersville, Center, Center, Center, Central (Park Hills), Central (Park Hills), Central (Springfield), Clarkton, Clever, Concordia, Concordia, Couch, DeSoto, DeSoto, Eldon, Englewood Christian, Fair Play, Farmington, Fayette, Fayette, Festus, Fort Osage, Francis Howell Central, Francis Howell North, Ft. Zumwalt North, Ft. Zumwalt North, Ft. Zumwalt North, Ft. Zumwalt South, Ft. Zumwalt West, Ft. Zumwalt West, Gateway, Golden City, Grandview, Green City, Green City, Greenfield, Greenfield, Halfway, Hannibal Middle School, Hazelwood Central, Hazelwood West, Heartland, Helias, Hickman, Hickman, Hickman Mills, Hillcrest, Hillsboro, Hurley, Jefferson City, Kearney, Kickapoo, King City, Ladue Horton Watkins, Lafayette (Wildwood), Lafayette County Junior, Lamar, Lee's Summit, Lesterville, Lesterville, Lesterville, Lexington, Liberty, Liberty Junior, Lincoln, Lindbergh, Linn County, Lutheran North, Lutheran South, Marceline, Maysville, McCluer, McCluer North, McCluer North, McCluer North, McCluer South-Berkeley, Metro, Niangua, Nixa, North County, North Harrison, North Kansas City, North Kansas City, North Shelby, Norwood, Oakville, Owensville, Poplar Bluff, Prairie Home, Puxico, Republic, Republic, Ritenour, Rockwood Summit, Sacred Heart, Sacred Heart, Sacred Heart, Savannah, Scott County Central, Seckman, Slater, Smith-Cotton, Smith-Cotton, Smith-Cotton, Smithville, Soldan International Studies, South Callaway, South Callaway Middle School, South Iron, South Pemiscot, South Shelby, South Valley Junior, Southwest (Washburn), St. Charles, St. Charles West, St. Mary's (Independence), St. Mary's (Independence), Stockton, Timberland, Tri-County, Tri-County, Troy Buchanan, Truman, Truman, Union Star, University City, Warrensburg, Waynesville, Weaubleau, Webb City, Webb City, West Junior, West Junior, Westminster Christian Academy, Willow Springs, Winnetonka, Winston, Worth County.

Self-Reported Violations and/or Requests for Lesser Penalties (By-Law 910):

Recommend action by school be accepted with reprimand issued and administration acknowledged for self-reporting - Center - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 125 by utilizing an individual as its head boys basketball coach who did not possess the minimum head coaching requirement of a four-year college degree, reassigned the coach to the assistant boys basketball coaching position, established a plan to avoid similar occurrences in the future; Grandview M.S. - Self-reported a violation of Article III, Section 2 of the MSHSAA Constitution by cooperatively sponsoring a program with Martin City Middle School without that school being a member of the Association or the proper cooperative sponsorship forms being completed on an annual basis, membership and coop forms are being processed; Grandview - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 213, academically ineligible student participated in three basketball contests, contests forfeited, student ineligible for the rest of semester and will sit out three contests when eligibility is restored; Jackson - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 235.2 by your school’s assistant volleyball coach who coached nonschool team with school volleyball players on the team during the school year, coach counseled to prevent future violation of this nature; Linn County - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 238, student transferred from out-of-state, school filled out their section of transfer form but did not get response from out-of-state school, student played in the baseball season and then transferred to another school, Linn Co. to receive in writing that the student did not participate in baseball for the 365 days prior to the transfer to their school, if it is determined the student did participate in baseball then all contests he participated in is to be forfeited or transfer information completed by out-of-state school; McCluer North - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 340, four students participated in two tournaments the same week, JV tournament game forfeited, students may not compete in any more contests this season; McCluer South-Berkeley - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 234, student incorrectly listed on Master Eligibility List as being eligible, student removed from list and the team, three games forfeited and student to be withheld from three games when academic eligibility is reinstated; Moberly - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 341 by a girls’ basketball player exceeding the quarter participation limit during a varsity and a junior varsity game on the same date, game in which player exceeded the limit was forfeited and the coach counseled to prevent similar violation, athlete may not exceed the maximum allowable quarters for the season; Warrenton - Self reported a violation of By-Law 213, academically ineligible student participated in one basketball contest, school forfeited the contest and put procedures in place to prevent future violation, student will need to sit out one contest, if academic eligibility is restored second semester, after the 5th day of classes of second semester.

Recommend action by school be accepted and administration acknowledged for self-reporting with no further action - Bradleyville - Self-reported an inadvertent violation of By-Law 234 (clerical error) omitting a name from the school’s master eligibility roster; Camdenton M.S. - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 235, middle school wrestler participated in nonschool competition during the school season, student to be withheld, at a minimum, that same number of matches he participated in on the nonschool team, school may have more restrictive policy for violation; Kearney - Self-reported a violation of By-Law 235 by a 7th grade wrestling who participated in a youth national tournament during the season, student had not competed in any matches for the school yet so no forfeits are required, the student will be withheld from a tournament in December as a consequence of his infraction; Truman - Self-reported an inadvertent violation of By-Law 234 (clerical error) omitting a name from the school’s master eligibility roster.

Application for approval of Cooperative Sponsorship of Seventh and Eighth Grade Activity (Article III, Section 2): Grandview School District - Grandview and Martin City middle schools - Boys Basketball, Cheerleading, 11-Man Football, Boys Track, Girls Track, Girls Volleyball (2007-08); Joplin School District - North, Memorial and South middle schools - Winterguard (2007-08).

Application for approval of Senior High School Cooperative Sponsorships (By-Law 106): Cainsville and Ridgeway high schools - Girls Softball (2008-09 and 2009-10) Chilhowee and Leeton high schools - 8-Man Football (2008-09 and 2009-10); Clopton and Elsberry high schools - 11-Man Football (2008-09 and 2009-10); Fairfax and Craig high schools - Girls Volleyball (2008-09 and 2009-10); Lockwood and Golden City high schools - 11-Man Football (2008-09 and 2009-10; Mercer and Princeton high schools - Boys Softball (2008-09 and 2009-10); Princeton and Mercer high schools - 11-Man Football (2008-09 and 2009-10; Rich Hill and Hume high schools - 11-Man Football (2008-09 and 2009-10); Southwest (Ludlow) and Breckenridge high schools - 8-Man Football (2008-09 and 2009-10).

Application for approval of Junior High School Cooperative Sponsorships (By-Law 107: Rich Hill and Hume junior highs - 11-Man Football (2008-09).

Kearney - Participation of two students in the 2008 Soccer Olympic Development Program in Frisco, Texas (March 2008)

Liberty - Participation of a student in the 2008 Soccer Olympic Development Program in Costa Rica (April 2008)

Smithville - Participation of a student in the 2008 Soccer Olympic Development Program in Frisco, Texas (March 2008)

St. Joseph’s Academy - Participation of three students in the 2008 Soccer Olympic Development Program in Frisco, Texas (March 2008)

Schroeder submitted a request to the Board to consider rescinding previous Board action of placing an item on the 2008 Annual Ballot that would ask schools to consider requiring officials in the sport of girls lacrosse to be registered with MSHSAA. She noted that the NFHS does not provide a national rules book for this sport, and lacrosse schools are currently using US Lacrosse officials which must have national-level training to serve in that capacity.

Determined to remove the question from the 2008 Annual Ballot asking schools to consider the requirement of girls lacrosse officials to register with MSHSAA.

Approved the written plan of action presented by members of the HDC Conference regarding academic competition season scheduling.

Approved the November and December 2007 Financial Statements as presented.

Approved the amended 2007-08 MSHSAA budget document as presented.

Long reported that it would require $275,000 to retire the existing Association bond debt. The Board had taken previous action to retire the debt this fiscal year.

Long also reported on the status of schools previously suspended by the Board for failure to reply to or pay outstanding invoices from 2006-07. Wright City is the only remaining school with an outstanding invoice from the previous school year.

Directed staff to negotiate terms for the remainder of this school year with the new photography company due to Columbia Photo no longer offering event photography services.

Approved items 1-3 from the December 6, 2007, meeting of the Constitution Study Committee.

Approved items 2-4 and tabled item 1 from the December 6, 2007, meeting of the Football Advisory Committee. Item 1 will also be referred to the Financial Subcommittee.

Approved items 1-2 and Item 3 as amended from the December 19, 2007, meeting of the Soccer Advisory Committee.

Approved items 1-2 of the December 17, 2007, meeting of the Softball Advisory Committee.

Kindhart reported on the inaugural meeting of the Student Advisory Council on January 21, 2008. He noted that the Council would like to create a student area on the MSHSAA web site for the Newsletter, student issues and student interaction. The Council also judged the state finalists for the Junior High Sportsmanship Essay Contest, discussed various MSHSAA advisory committee recommendations and all of the 2008 Area Meeting topics. No action was taken.

Urhahn reported on the 15 area meeting topics. Board members reviewed the summaries and comments from each topic discussed at the eight Area Meeting sites. The Board also outlined which topics seemed to receive a favorable response from the membership requiring additional feedback on the Annual Questionnaire.

Determined to include the following topics on the 2008 Annual Questionnaire:

1) Increasing the number of meets for senior high cross country to 10; 2) Three-out-of-five format for varsity regular season and MSHSAA district and state series; 3) Determine how many schools will be using three-out-of-five format for volleyball next season; 4) State basketball tournament proposed new schedule – break down by weekend; 5) Amateur and Awards Standard change, and if yes, increase to $100; 6) Equal enrollment breaks for the sport of baseball; 7) Creditable Citizenship, working with language regarding minor traffic violations; 8) When does the period of ineligibility begin if the school does not know about the incident; 9) Should there be a length of time where students who do not report incidents in a timely matter are ineligible instead of forfeitures; 10) With reasonable limitations, would you favor dual participation, and if yes, in which of the following sports in which your school participates; 11) Is the current open-facility policy sufficient, or should the policy be expanded, and should these guidelines be sport-specific; 12) Summertime contact with sport coaches, five items, and should summertime be deregulated entirely?; 13) Should restrictions be placed on students who transfer from public to a nonpublic school and vice versa for their 9th grade year; 14) Should MSHSAA research potential restrictions regarding participation on Non-Missouri residents who attend MSHSAA member schools?; 15) Adding two standing investigators to assist with investigative committees; 16) Permitting a certified assistant coach after two years to serve as a head coach, and should we do away with the substitute certificate requirement to serve as an assistant coach, and do you favor doing away with the educational requirements for head coaches; 16) Requirement to have a minimum of one certified activities director on Board of Directors; 17) Transferring for athletic reasons or undue influence at time of enrollment into 9th grade; 18) Annual Rules meetings for Music; 19) Eliminating the 16 games and 2 tournaments scheduling option for water polo; 20) Restrict the number of matches in a tournament to six; 21) Should anything be added or removed from the proposed complaint policy; 22) Should Association membership fees be eliminated; 23) Changing the soccer season player limits to three times the number of halves permitted.

By consensus, the Board determined the following items would not be placed on the Annual Questionnaire: Enrollment data collection procedures; two-out-of-three district baseball format; and the potential creation of a minimum GPA requirement for activity participation.

Board members discussed the three petitions submitted by member schools for the 2008 Annual Ballot. The first petition seeks the establishment of a separate state tournament series for girls softball in the spring, and it received 57 valid signatures and 48 signatures were needed. The second item sought to mandate that sectionals are required for Class 3 cross country schools, and it received just 32 valid signatures and will not be placed on the Annual Ballot as 35 signatures were needed. The third petition sought to amend the MSHSAA Constitution to allow for grades 6-12 membership. This petition did not receive any valid signatures and will not be placed on the Annual Ballot as 78 signatures were needed.

Certified Petition A to include on the 2008 Annual Ballot regarding the creation of a spring girls softball series. The other two petitions submitted did not receive the proper number of required signatures and will not be placed on the Annual Ballot.

Directed staff to send a letter to the schools listed as not attending the required MSHSAA administrator rules meeting in 2007-08 notifying them of their failure to attend these required meetings and emphasizing the significance of the meetings and the administrators’ obligation to attend these meetings in subsequent years.

Set the Affiliate Registered School membership fee at $100 per school, plus activity fees.

Binggeli presented the standard enrollment breaks for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years for Board consideration as follows: Class 1 (0-130), Class 2 (131-245), Class 3 (246-577), Class 4 (578-1202), Class 5 (1203+).

Approved the standard enrollment breaks for 2008-09 and 2009-10 as presented.

Motion Kinder, Sumy second, to enter into closed sessions for matters involving legal actions or litigation involving MSHSAA including any confidential or privileged communications between the MSHSAA and its attorney. Section 610.021(1) R.S.Mo. Motion passed 7-0 on a roll call vote with Brown, Richards, Sumy, Gohn, Edwards, Kinder, and Cornish voting yes.

Motion Gohn, Richards second, to return to open session. Motion passed 7-0 on a roll call vote with Brown, Richards, Sumy, Gohn, Edwards, Kinder, and Cornish voting yes.

The following was reported out of closed session:

Motion Sumy, Kinder second, to submit an item to the Constitution Study Committee to establish criteria for Board member attendance at MSHSAA Board meetings. Motion passed 7-0 on a roll call vote with Brown, Richards, Sumy, Gohn, Edwards, Kinder, and Cornish voting yes.

Principal JoEllen Hicks and soccer coach Nick Cox of Linn High School appeared before the Board to address removal of the school’s boys soccer team from the field of play during a game at Crocker High School on September 10, 2007.

Accepted the actions taken by Linn High School regarding an incident that took place in a boys soccer game at Crocker High School on September 10, 2007.

Determined to support the DrugFree.org initiatives, provide their materials to MSHSAA member schools, and use the organization’s PSA advertisements at MSHSAA events and in MSHSAA publications.

Cole Camp’s request to move music districts was removed from the agenda at the school’s request.

For informational purposes, Urhahn updated the Board on the Federal High school Accountability Act (H.R. 901) which will require schools to submit data regarding teams in interscholastic data, including travel, equipment, uniform and other expenses.

Urhahn and Kindhart updated the Board on the new MSHSAA Internet Network (www.mshsaanetwork.com) and the video and audio games streamed on the internet for various MSHSAA Championship events. Fall championships in volleyball, 8-man football, 11-man football, boys soccer, and boys swimming were carried on the network, and the listener and viewer numbers were reviewed by the Board. Urhahn stated that with this program now off the ground, the Association will begin publicizing this service much more.

Approved the posting of an MSHSAA staff position for a technology person. Staff will research salary range and qualification needs for the position.

Urhahn congratulated Mike Gohn for induction into the Southeast Missouri State Athletic Hall of Fame. Fred Binggeli will also be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame on February 10 for his 1984 National Championship Cross Country team at SEMO.

The Board reviewed the following information items: New phone system phone tree, Miscellaneous newspaper articles and informational materials; NFHS meeting minutes; March Board Meeting and Basketball Championships rooming and pass needs; April Board Meeting rooming needs; Executive Director’s editorial change to the Handbook to have annual ballots received in the office by May 1 not postmarked by May 1.

Blase presented the 2008 and 2009 football districts for Board consideration and approval. The districts were scheduled to be released at 7 a.m. on January 25. Issues discussed as potential issues were the nine-team Grand Rivers Conference which includes eight Class 1 schools and one Class 2 school. The number of schools in the conference which encompasses two classifications will not permit the conference schools to complete their regular eight-game schedule. Also, the 10-team Ozark Conference, which encompasses three classifications, is also unable to play a full conference schedule. Blase noted the following number of school changes in each classification: Class 1 – 5; Class 2 – 11; Class 3 – 13; Class 4 – 15; Class 5 – 9; Class 6 – 4.

Blase also disseminated the proposed new Class 5 district composition that included 11 districts and the proposed bracket. It was proposed that the first and second-place team in the one district with five teams would advance to the second round and split to different sides of the bracket (22 teams – 11 on each half). This would require two district winners will have to play the “play-in” round, but will automatically host that round and the next round if they advance. The Board discussed different bracket setups for the Class 5 structure. It was determined to only grant the winner of the one five-team district a bye to the second round and to set the bracket up so that schools from the same district could not meet prior to the round of eight, similar to Class 6.

Approved the 2008 and 2009 football districts and the special bracket proposed for Class 5 in which schools from the same district could not play until the round of eight.