Board approves naming facility after former coach, athletic director

By Jennifer Eisenbart

EDITOR

Burlington High School’s athletic stadium will have a new name come August.

In spite of ongoing discussions about Burlington Area School District naming policy – and whether the ad hoc committee currently working on the policy should have a say – the decision to rename the facility “Don Dalton Stadium” passed by a 4-3 vote Monday night.

The motion that passed set aside Policy 940, which states the general policy is not to name a facility after a person until he or she has been dead for 10 years. Voting yes were Board President Bill Campbell, Jim Bousman, Todd Terry and Larry Anderson.

Roger Koldeway, Phil Ketterhagen and Rosanne Hahn voted against the motion – in large part because the policy itself is problematic.

After discussing the policy last week in the Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Committee, the full School Board had its turn again Monday.

Few, if any, of the opinions seemed to change. None of the board members had issues with the stadium being named for Don Dalton, a Hall of Fame athletic director and football coach at BHS in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The problem is Policy 940, which is worded in way that discourages naming facilities after a person unless they’d been dead for 10 or more years – but didn’t expressly forbid it.

Board Member Phil Ketterhagen said the board had disagreed on enough subjects already, and best practice would be to simply wait and rewrite the policy.

“I believe we’re driving the cart before the horse here,” Ketterhagen said.

Hahn, meanwhile, felt the board would be exploiting a “loophole” in the wording of the policy. With an ad hoc committee already working on naming rights and sponsorship issues – with the goal of reworking the policy – Hahn wanted to wait until that group had come to a consensus.

“I think we should change the policy first,” she said.

Koldeway agreed with Hahn.

“Too often, things come before the board at the last minute, and we’ve had to set policy aside,” said Koldeway, who added that going around the policy would minimize the work of the ad hoc committee and also deprive the community of a chance to weigh in.

However, BASD Superintendent Peter Smet said he had conferred with the district’s counsel, and said that he was told wiggle room existed in the wording.

“The policy allows you to have that option,” Smet said.

With that being said, new board member Todd Terry said, “We’re not flying in the face of that policy. It provides that discretion.”

He also said Dalton wasn’t any kind of risk, and clearly deserved the honor.

“If we want to change the policy later, fine.”

Anderson and Bousman both offered their support, and after a brief discussion about previous amendments to the policy between Campbell and Ketterhagen, Campbell called the vote. An amendment was added to clarify that the project would not be funded by district money.

The group that proposed the naming will now move forward with the project, having pledged to raise the money needed to cover the costs for new sign and also a celebration of the re-naming of the stadium.

Former BHS football coach Hans Block, working with other community members, will appeal to alumni supporters to come forward with the $15,000 needed for the project when he pitched it to the Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Committee last week.

The goal, Block said, is to have the project finished to coincide with the opening of the football season in late August.