During a recent meeting of a subcommittee of the Williston Public School District 1 Finance Committee, the sole topic of discussion was the outstanding debt of the Williston Hockey Club.
The hockey club owes the district $27,862.99 and is reviewing options to address the issue. The matter comes before the entire Williston School Board Tuesday evening at 7:15.
"They are in dire financial straights," said subcommittee member Malcolm Pippin.
At a past meeting, Interim Superintendent Dr. Hjelmstad presented a range of options for the school board to pursue to address the debt. The options included everything from doing nothing to forgiving the debt. Hjelmstad participated in last week's subcommittee meeting by speakerphone. Retired Williston High School Superintendent Del Easton spoke about the historical aspects of the program and the contract that existed in the past. He said he hockey club wanted to be part of the district, but didn't have the money at the time. It was agreed the hockey club would pay for everything and the school would supervise.
"The hockey club would show the school district in July that they had the money to pay for the following season," said Easton.
He said he asked for that to protect the school.
"It's a good program, but I don't think that you should forgive the debt," said Easton when addressing committee members last week. "I think you should work something out, that they should pay because there are some other programs out there that pay for themselves like baseball and swimming."
He also said it would be beneficial for board members to take a look at which programs should be paid for and which shouldn't, so there are some guidelines.
"We made this contract 18 years ago, when there were different parents and different players. It's old history," said Easton.
Committee members agreed it would be helpful to establish some boundaries.
Meanwhile, hockey club Treasurer Pat Sogard, past president and treasurer Jerry Rehak and club accountant Jeff Clarke represented the hockey club at the subcommittee meeting.
"Our cooling system failed, and we have no choice but to replace it," said Sogard.
The hockey club has made an $18,000 down payment for the cooling tower, which ismanufactured in Calgary. The balance is due when the tower is completed and installed.
"It's a given we're going to use all of our cash to pay for this," Sogard said. "We don't have enough money to pay the high school, and it's not a result of neglect on anyone's part. We don't have enough money to pay for capital improvements."
He also said parents work very hard to keep the program going and it can't be compared to sports like baseball and swimming.
"Everyone is a volunteer. We try to save every nickel we can," said Sogard.
He said the high school and club have been working together since the beginning and that's what they want to continue to do.
"We want this to be very open," he said.
Sogard said the club is very proud of where it is now and it has a lot of volunteers and fundraising. The program has around 225 to 250 members, he Sogard.
"I'd sure hate to see it go away, and I don't think it should," he said.
School board President Dave Hanson said as a result of the school's financial issues, it makes this issue difficult.
"We are facing bus driver and classified salary issues," said Hanson, which may create some added expenses for the district.
"So that's what I'm thinking about as this $30,000 issue is facing us," he said.
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