Kaneland bringing back pay for some coaching positions

The Kaneland 302 school board said the district will resume paying people to fill some positions as sports coaches and club advisers.

The board approved a plan earlier this week to bring back stipend pay for 14 positions over two years.

The first year of the plan includes pay for assistant coaches for Kaneland High School's girls and boys basketball teams, and its girls volleyball team. Doing so would enable the teams to have two freshmen teams instead of one.

It will also add pay for an additional assistant coach for Kaneland Harter Middle School's coeducational cross-country team, and two assistants for the coeducational track and field team. Each of those teams usually has about 70 to 80 students participating, and currently have two paid coaches supervising them. Additional coaches are needed for student safety, according to a memo given to the board.

A second adviser will be paid for the high school's student council.

In some cases, teams already have a full complement of coaches, with some serving without pay, or with all the coaches agreeing to split their stipends with each other.

"We do appreciate our coaches that have volunteered over the years," Superintendent Todd Leden said. "We're very grateful."

The memo noted that at the high school level, Kaneland was paying fewer coaches than schools of similar size.

The stipends had been removed when the district was trying to reduce, or at least not increase, spending during the recession.

The first year, adding the stipends will cost the district $28,740 to $43,911, depending on the years of experience the people in the positions have.

In the second year, the district would add an assistant coach position each for high school football and baseball, and two assistant coach positions each for middle school girls volleyball and girls and boys basketball.