Before the regular Heartland School Board meeting, a question and answer session was held on Monday at 6 p.m. at the Heartland Theater about the proposed sports cooperative with Hampton Public School. The Heartland School Board was on hand to take questions from the audience for an hour before their regular meeting at 7 p.m.
There were about 100 patrons in attendance, in addition to all the Heartland School Board members, Superintendent Klein, High School Principal Carr, and Elementary Principal Reinke. School board members attending were Lacey Gloystein, Ryan Goertzen, Jen Hiebner, Jeb Mierau, Tyler Newton, and Tammy Ott. Athletic Director Josh Struckman did not attend due to junior high and reserve basketball games in progress.
Tyler Newton called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., Monday, February 10th, at the Heartland Theatre. He opened with a statement of “why” the board explored the co-op and the timeline for talks with Hampton.
Here’s an overview of questions asked and answers given by the board:
Corbin Tessman: “Since football wouldn’t begin until 2026, are we actually looking at having the other sports be on a different cycle than football?”
Superintendent Klein: “Yes.”
Jeff Peters: “Why hasn’t the community been involved sooner?”
Jen Hiebner: “As soon as it was on our official agenda, I was talking with parents. There have been several board meetings where it has been discussed. The board wanted to answer most of the details before publicly putting out much information.”
Ryan Goertzen: He expressed empathy with the crowd and said, “We should have engaged you much sooner than we did.” He also posed the question, “How does this affect the kids? I think they have valid concerns about ensuring the board is doing the right things. The co-op is one thing, but it’s also all the support things around it that will make a big difference.”
Kirsten Peters: “What are the factors for this? Is it football participation? Is there a leadership or participation problem?”
Taylor Chrisman: “What about a transportation plan?” She expressed that her family lives a good distance from Henderson and is concerned that the additional travel will be difficult.
Superintendent Klein: “Right now, we are certainly planning to have a shuttle to and from practice for both schools, and high school and junior high would both be part of that plan. They will likely coordinate a pickup and drop-off plan based on the direction of travel. This is not something fully decided on, and talks will continue.”
Chad Tessman: “Other teams on our schedule can’t field JV teams or have to limit quarters. What is the plan since we will look at having more teams?”
Tyler Newton: “We will likely be dropping the other class D schools and adding more C and potentially B teams to the schedule.”
Tanner Steingard: “Some sports are listed as a 50-50 split for games and practices, but with all of the Heartland school updates, should that split be renegotiated?”
Superintendent Klein: “A 50-50 split is what has been decided, and there have been many deep discussions, but in good faith, a good partnership will be shared equally. It is definitely something they will monitor when it comes to participation and which school hosts which events. Mr. Klein also mentioned that the co-op would be looking to stay at the Southern Nebraska Conference, which is the conference Heartland is currently in. That has been a hard pill for many people in Hampton to swallow, they have been a part of the Crossroads conference from the beginning.”
Carter Peters, 8th grade Heartland student: “Would baseball be a sport that could be added since Hampton has a good summer program.?” Carter also mentioned an informal student survey that revealed that a majority of the kids were not in favor of the co-op.
Tyler Newton: “No new sports are expected to be added in the initial two-year cycle. Both schools have agreed to do the sports they are currently offering without adding new sports right away. However, adding sports or activities is definitely something both boards will look to explore for the next cycle.”
Tanner Steingard: “Could junior high sports practice be a part of the school day.” He referenced McCool Junction using PE time for their sports teams.
High school principal Tim Carr: “Rule 10 has been looked at, but they have not talked about the changing of any schedule. Rule 10 discusses what classes a school needs to offer in order to be accredited.”
Corbin Tessman: “Could you clarify the football classification?”
Tyler Newton: “Our board projects Heartland to be in class C2 on our own in the next scheduling cycle, which will begin in the fall of 2026. There is a possibility to use a two-year probation. And essentially opt down into eight-man football for two years while remaining eligible for the playoffs. At the end of that probation, if enrollment suggests a need to stay in C2, the decision then becomes whether we bump up to C2, or op down into eight-man but become ineligible for the playoffs.”
Burton Peters: “As a follow-up to Chad’s questions, how much have the coaches been involved in these discussions? They are the ones who would be keenly aware when kids aren’t getting playing time, and with the additional students potentially on teams, how will they manage playing time for all the students?”
Superintendent Klein: “The ADs are in constant contact with all the coaches and should have input, just like they do now. The school would for sure have to schedule more aggressively and creatively.”
Cody Farrall: “When would the updated schedule happen–would it happen right away or down the road a few years? Also, why would we want to compete in class B if we are unsuccessful now?”
Superintendent Klein: “Progress has already been made with some bigger schools regarding scheduling updates, which could happen as soon as the fall of 2025. When it comes to the level of competition, you try to find the right level to play against. Games just to have games isn’t a good idea if there’s no real competition involved.”
Vincent Friesen: “Have there been any talks of joining Hampton for the speech team?”
Tyler Newton: “Yes, that has been discussed. However, for this upcoming cycle, this would just be a sports co-op. However, they will be taking a close look at all of the activities as they move through the first two-year cycle.”
Kirsten Peters: “There are a large number of homeschool kids that live within the Heartland school district. Has there been any communication with those families?”
Superintendent Klein: “Probably not the way you are envisioning. We always want to be welcoming when they want to have that discussion. Some homeschool students are currently participating at Heartland; they also must meet the minimum academic requirements to play in sports.”
Ryan Goertzen: “This is definitely an issue that the school board needs to look at and figure out. Jeb mentioned that 86 kids are opting out of the Heartland school district.”
Tiffany Orgazolka: “Will kids have the option to drive themselves to and from practices or game pick-ups? Does there have to be a coach from both schools if one school can supply qualified coaches?”
Tylor Newton: “About your first question, we have reached out to our insurance company to see exactly how kids driving themselves would work from an insurance standpoint, so some of that is still up in the air. As for your second question, there is a minimum of one coach from each school that is scheduled to be a part of each team.”
Rebecca Schultz: “During the bond issue it was brought up that we needed more space for more kids, but now we’re talking about a sports co-op because we don’t have enough kids, so which is it?”
Tyler Newton: “The NSA shows participation is down across all sports in the state. We are looking at this from a proactive standpoint. We want to schedule more weekend games since there can be concerns with late nights during the week.”
Tiffany Holka: “Have we talked with the kids about any of this?”
Superintendent Klein: “We have not done a survey with the kids. But what we do know is there is a raw numbers problem and a raw participation problem. Some students may be skeptical and resistant, while others may be very open.”
Tylor Newton adjourned the meeting at 7:03 PM
