The Karnes City ISD Board of Trustees accepted changes to the 2008-2009 cheerleader constitution at the March 10 regular meeting.

Board Secretary Terry Johnson opposed the new constitution and Trustee Rosendo Martinez was absent.

"The squad has not been a competitive squad in the past years, I don’t know that’s something that they want to do in the future," new cheerleading sponsor Mari Copeland said. "… if you are not competing and you’re in there to build morale and spirit for the school and for community, then if all ten candidates meet the criteria as far as character and grades, then why not take all ten."

Copeland proposed to have ten cheerleaders instead of eight, as well as lowering the student vote percentage by ten percent and adding it to the judges’ score.

"It’s like fielding a team. You have got to have so many spots filled and some years you have more talent than others," Superintendent Frances Penland said.

Schools such as Falls City have 12 members on their squad and any eighth grader who signs up can participate on the junior high squad.

"For me watching this past year… they have two stunt groups, with four, which leaves no front spot and I think that is a very vulnerable thing to put that flyer through," Copeland said. "If she falls off the front there is not the security of knowing there is a front spot there to help catch her when she falls."

Copeland believes in a "five stunt group" scenario. That was her reasoning for a ten member squad and for more opportunities. Copeland noted that she has over 20 years of experience in cheerleading.

"My problem is it’s still a team," Trustee Terry Johnson said. "I think they should meet minimum criteria just like any other team. If you’re going to be representing the school and competing in different competitions, there needs to be some cut off of a minimum competency to be a cheerleader."

Johnson believes there needs to be a minimum threshold of judges’ scores to keep the standards high.

The board did accept Copeland’s revisions to the cheerleading constitution, with no minimum judging score threshold.

The board accepted resignations from elementary school teachers Yolanda Salinas and Debbie Martin. Their resignations will go into effect at the end of the school year.

The board also accepted Dean of Students Pat Adams’ resignation. Adams was reassigned at the end of the first semester from Junior High Assistant Principal to Dean of Students. According to June 6 issue of The Countywide, former High School Principal Harold Steele was reassigned in the middle of summer last year to fill the newly-created "dean of students" position. He resigned at the beginning of the school year.