Basketball Academy Leaving Michigan City
The Michigan City Girls Basketball Academy will end its operations in Michigan City after 10 years of working with the girls of Michigan City. We had hoped the Michigan City Area Schools, athletic director, school board, and its administrators would give some consideration to the local youth, but they continue to resist letting these young ladies anywhere near a MCAS gym, so we chose to end this squabble and move on.

We will move our Basketball Academy a little south and west to a school corporation that has welcomed us with open arms, as we once were here in Michigan City until this mess began. It's sad that we will not be able to work with the girls of Michigan City after all the success they achieved, but we were given no other options by MCAS and its cronies.

We will still do what we love to do, just with another group of youth girls wanting to improve the game they love to play. We thank all the young ladies we got to work with, along with their parents and guardians, for the many years we had to spend with them. We encourage them to keep working hard, and playing the game they also love. While we will miss you all, we will check in on you when we can from time to time.

Brian Studtman and Roger A. Butler

Michigan City

Basketball Academy

Park board gives MCAS 30 days, or else

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

A lawsuit will begin if longtime Zilla agreement isn't mediated.

MICHIGAN CITY - The Michigan City Area Schools Corp. has 30 days to reach an agreement or enter into mediation with the Michigan City Park Department over use of school facilities.

If not, a lawsuit will be filed.

At a press conference Tuesday, Park Board President Phillip Latchford said a notice of default was sent Sept. 5 to Clyde Zeek, president of the Board of School Trustees. It gives MCAS one last chance to work out differences over terms of the April 12, 1988 agreement between the two parties.

The agreement - known as the 1988 Zilla Square Playground Agreement - was reached to give MCAS the use of park land for an addition to Marsh Elementary School. In exchange, the parks programs was to receive priority use of MCAS facilities at no charge other than custodian fees.

Zeek said Monday night he had not seen the letter, but is trying to set up a meeting with the seven-member board to discuss it. He reconfirmed the board's disagreement with the park board's interpretation of the contract. On behalf of MCAS, he said "we did not feel we needed a mediator."

Jim Kintzele, MCAS board member, wants the situation figured out.

"My position is, we better settle it. An agreement should be reached which is fair and honest." He said that, regardless of his opinion, board action requires four votes out of seven.

Park Department Superintendent Darrell Garbacik said his department and MCAS have worked well for 20 years but, a year ago, MCAS denied access to certain park department groups. The Park Department was told it couldn't use the Michigan City High School gym for adult basketball or for any weekend events, and couldn't use any school facilities for girls' basketball. Long-standing procedures for scheduling facilities were changed.

Superintendent Michael Harding sent a letter to Latchford on June 9 stating the MCAS goes by State of Indiana School Laws and Codes and must control scheduling, use and costs of outside activities. The statement said MCAS wouldn't consider requests for "activities that are in conflict and/or competition with school district programs."

Latchford said nobody wins in the current situation.

"They're playing hardball, with the goal of keeping taxpayers out of facilities. Unfortunately, this is a lose-lose for taxpayers."

Garbacik said he is perplexed by the dustup because the parks department hasn't done anything different than it did the previous 20 years in making requests for school facilities.

Park Board Attorney Patrick Donoghue said if litigation goes forward, he will request an injunction to revert to previous policies and practices until the case is settled. The original agreement also calls for MCAS to pick up all legal costs incurred by the park department for the case.

"In 35 years of practice, I have never encountered something like this," Donoghue said. "The school board has many, many problems to attend to. This should not be one of them."



Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.

Park board gives MCAS 30 days, or else

There wasn't a better headline?

I like mine personally

I agree. It's way better than "...or else". Come on, my kids wouldn't even be afraid or nervous about someone saying that to them.

How about

"Parks Dept to give MCAS something to cry about"?

How can we be leaders when our leaders mislead?

9/10/2008 11:03:00 AM
Harding talks of 'misinformation'

Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch

MCAS Superintendent speaks of Parks disagreement with system.

MICHIGAN CITY - The superintendent of schools spoke to what he called "the information and misinformation" floating about the community regarding the disagreement between the Michigan City Area Schools and the Michigan City Park Board.

Superintendent Michael Harding's comments said both sides have been talking about the matter throughout the spring and summer.

Harding said a letter from Park Board President Phillip Latchford, which Latchford told The News-Dispatch was a "letter of default," arrived at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The letter gives MCAS 30 days to either reach an agreement about the park department's use of school facilities or enter into mediation.

On April 12, 1988, the park board agreed to grant MCAS the use of park land for an addition to Marsh Elementary School and MCAS gave the park department priority over other groups in the use of MCAS facilities when the school corporation isn't using them.

And there's the rub: "When the school corporation isn't using them." Harding and Michigan City High School Athletic Director Bob "Bear" Falls have said MCAS reserves the right to use the facilities, including the Wolves Den, for maintenance and cleaning.

"The Parks and Recreation Department has not been refused the use of our facilities," Harding said.

At least a portion of the disagreement centered on a men's Sunday afternoon basketball league and its request to use "a 7,000-seat gymnasium for its Sunday afternoon games," Harding said. "As alternatives, our three brand-new middle school gymnasiums were offered."

Some disagreement also swirls about a girl's basketball organization known as the Girls Basketball Academy. Harding said school officials have not seen evidence of its status as a not-for-profit corporation. As far as Harding knows, the group does not account for its money for fees and uniforms in the same way the school corporation is required to take care of money.

The basketball academy does not serve as a feeder organization for the MCHS girls team.

"Our feeder program for our girls basketball program are our middle and elementary programs," he said.

Harding does not see the need for mediation. He believes MCAS and the parks and recreation department functioned as partners throughout the summer when youngsters from the city's day camp program used the Elston swimming pool and the MCAS hosted two Drum and Bugle shows, one in July and another in August.

Harding is an ass

Congratulations Michael Harding, you've done it again.

Zeek's opinion out of touch
On Sept. 14, The News-Dispatch was courteous enough to once again allow school board president Clyde Zeek to make some attempt to answer why the MCAS still is embroiled in a battle over gymnasium, or facility usage with the Michigan City Park and Recreation Department.

It seems Mr. Zeek has a passion for getting his viewpoint out to the public lately via The News-Dispatch. Maybe the school board election campaign is fueling this passion, or at least stimulating it. One thing that is painfully clear is that the MCAS, and Mr. Zeek's opinion on this matter, are out of touch with our community, and changes based on which way the wind is blowing at that given time.

Let's take a step back in time when this issue became public knowledge back in March. Mr. Zeek and Athletic Director Bear Falls requested a meeting with the Girl's Basketball Academy to attempt to decipher what could be done to end this debacle. At this meeting, the Girl's Basketball Academy handed over financial records, expired usage contracts and many other pertinent documents to bring this issue to an end and simply allow these kids to take part in their sport of choice. Shortly after this meeting, Mr. Zeek took the opportunity via The News-Dispatch to deny any knowledge of the issue and laid the blame at Bear Falls' feet.

Then, when the issue was brought before the school board, officially Mr. Zeek recanted his previous statements and acknowledged he took part in this meeting and was confused because he had been watching CNN? Now, Mr. Zeek would like for us of all to believe the MCAS has been more than gracious with MCAS facilities and that it's the Park and Recreation Department that shoulders the blame for this whole mess, as they were letting just anybody claim they were a organization operating under the auspices of the Park and Recreation Department.

In my opinion, the Park and Recreation Department has a bit more credibility at any given moment over MCAS, and the records show clearly what organizations they are involved with. Now if all this rhetoric by Mr. Zeek was not enough, he now has a desire to claim he has knowledge of what feeder programs are, and wants to explain the MCAS position of facility usage based on this prowess of the issue.

The strange thing about this prowess Mr. Zeek claims to be anointed with is, there are many organizations MCAS allows usage of facilities that are Park and Recreation affiliates, such as Piranhas swimming, MCUBO baseball, etc. The only organization they chose to deny usage was the Girl's Basketball Academy, and Mr. Zeek claims now the denial was based on the fact that the schools are the true feeder systems of high school athletics.

If this truly is the stance of MCAS, why do they only apply this directive to only girl's basketball, as these other sports are available through MCAS as well? Seems Mr. Zeek's attempt at clarity only serves to muddy the issue even further when he opines the MCAS views as well as his own. The Girl's Basketball Academy chose to end this debacle with MCAS by closing its operations in Michigan City and starting new in another community, it seems this has only fueled Mr. Zeek and the MCAS to continue this war of words.

Roger A. Butler

Michigan City