Athletic Trainer Possibility Discussed By Latexo ISD Board    

 By Will Johnson                                                                                                                                                      Messenger Reporter

LATEXO – The Latexo Independent School District Board of Trustees met in a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Sept. 12 that was highlighted by a discussion on the possibility of hiring an athletic trainer for the district.

As the meeting got underway, a presentation on legal insurance for employees was given by attorney Lynn Markham. The attorney, an authorized agent for Texas Legal Insurance, provided a handout to the board members which detailed what types of services the company provided.

The information in the handouts stated, “Texas Legal was created over 40 years ago by the State Bar of Texas to provide access to affordable legal help for everyday Texans. As a non-profit, we’re dedicated to providing insurance to cover legal fees – helping Texans get the legal help they need without the high-dollar attorney costs. With hundreds of qualified attorneys to provide professional legal help, our members can choose an attorney who meets their needs.”

Markham’s presentation also detailed what types of legal matters were covered under the insurance and what the cost would be for employees. “Preferred coverage includes estate planning, guardianships, probate proceedings, adoptions, traffic tickets, defense of DWI, defense of felonies and misdemeanors, divorces and custody modification, residential real estate transactions, bankruptcy, four annual consults, six hours of general services and more. It even includes identity theft monitoring and up to $1 million dollars of coverage for identity theft recovery for only $20 a month for individuals or $30 a month for families,” Markham’s information stated.

The presentation was for informational purposes only and no action was taken on the matter.

Following the approval of several other agenda items, AD/Head Coach Ray Stanfield provided an update on the athletic department. Coach Stanfield informed the board members of an incident which occurred in a recent volleyball game which damaged the sound system in the gym. He said he had consulted a colleague on the matter and would begin the process of bid solicitation for repairs, with board approval.

The next item brought forward by Stanfield pertained to the possibility of hiring an athletic trainer to assist in the athletic department. “We talked to the Huntsville medical system and they have trainers. I asked them to give us plans for what they did and they gave us three different options,” he said.

The coach said the first option involved having the trainer on campus one day a week, to treat any athlete who may have been injured. “Whoever is injured or hurt, he or she will see them that day and hear any advice, receive treatment, rehab or whatever. The trainer is not with us for the games or in practice, the trainer is just here once a week. The cost for that is $3,300 for the whole year.”

“The next one,” Stanfield continued, “is what they call a part time contract. We will have someone at every home game. Every basketball game, every volleyball game, every baseball game, every softball game, every home cross country meet, there will be a certified trainer at those competitions. That same trainer will come once a week to follow up, or treat, or do whatever else needs to be done with rehab. The total for that is $8,500 per year. Now having said that, it obviously won’t cost that much because we are already into the year.”

The third option Stanfield discussed was a full time trainer who was on campus every day, traveled to every away game and was in attendance for every home game. The AD said this position would probably best be looked at in the future, but added if there was an injury at the elementary, such as a sprained ankle or twisted knee, the trainer could assist the nurse in dealing with it.

“The cost of this would be $37,000 a year. Since we don’t have football, that would knock it down to $30,000. That is something you can think about or we can discuss later. That would be a Cadillac situation,” he said.

After he gave a few examples of how a trainer could help the district athlete’s, Stanfield said because of the trainer’s affiliation with the Huntsville medical system – if an athlete was injured – the wait time to see an orthopedic specialist would drastically be reduced.

Questions about the qualifications of the trainers were answered by the coach and nurse who emphasized all of the trainers who would be used had either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree and were certified athletic trainers.

Asked specifically which option he would prefer, Stanfield said of course he would like to have the full-time trainer, but explained the best option for the district would probably be to look at the part-time trainer at $8,500 per year.

Following a few more minutes of discussion, the coach was asked to further look into the cost savings on the part-time trainer and report back to the board.

In other matters brought before the LISD Board:

  • LISD Nurse Crystal Patterson gave a presentation on the School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) and informed the board a flu vaccine clinic was scheduled for Oct. 12. Patterson was also appointed as the chair of the LISD SHAC program.
  • A resolution to approve LISD Superintendent Dr. Stacy Easterly as the district’s investment officer was adopted unanimously by the board.
  • The board members approved Update 105 which affects local policies BJCF, BQ, CLB, CLE, CPC, DBA, DFBB, DFFA, DFFB, EHBD and FDC.
  • Consent agenda items were approved as presented.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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