CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE BADGER CONFERENCE
Preamble: The organization of school districts comprising the Badger Conference has been developed to provide a means of coordinating activities in interscholastic matters among the districts named. It is intended that conference activity will involve the many areas of participation herein described and any activity engaged in by this conference is the welfare of children in the districts involved. Amplification of purposes and rules governing activity of this conference has been provided in the framework of the following Constitution and By-laws thereto.
Article I Name:
The name of this organization of
school districts shall be the Badger
Conference.
Article II Purpose:
Section I
To promote a program of interscholastic activities meeting high standards and worth educational goals.
To promote a channel for the discussion of and solution to questions related to conference sponsored activities.
Section II
To develop a spirit of unity in all matters pertaining to conference activities.
Section III
To arrange schedules for conference activities and to establish dates and formulate policies governing such activities as the conference may choose to sponsor.
Section IV
To provide a means for determining winners in the various conference activities where deemed desirable, and to designate awards and recognition for such winners.
Section V
To promote the development of the proper ideals of sportsmanship, ethical conduct and fair play and to use the conference activities as a means of developing good citizenship responsibility on the part of competing members and spectators.
Section VI
To promote the physical, mental, and moral development and well being of all participants.
Section VII
To promote educational improvement among the member schools by providing a channel for the discussion on a high professional level of matters of common educational concern.
Article III Membership:
Section I Conference
Members:
a. DeForest School District-Deforest High School (1987-88)
b. *Fort Atkinson School District-Fort Atkinson High School (2008 – 2009)
c. Milton School District – Milton High School (2008 - 2009)
c. Monona Grove School District-Monona Grove High School (1955-56)
d. *Monroe School District-Monroe High School (1951)
e. Oregon School District-Oregon High School (1977-78
f. Sauk Prairie School District-Sauk Prairie High School (1977-78)
g. *Stoughton School District-Stoughton High School
h. Verona School District-Verona High School (1994-95)
i. Waunakee School District-Waunakee High School (1987-88)
j. Baraboo School District-Baraboo High School (2001-2002)
k. Madison Edgewood High School (1999-2000)
l. McFarland School District- McFarland High School (2001-2002)
m. Mount Horeb School District-Mount Horeb High School (2001-2002)
n. Portage School District-Portage High School (2001-2002)
o. Reedsburg School District-Reedsburg High School (2001-2002)
* Charter Member
Section II New
Members:
School districts or high schools in good standing with all authorized Wisconsin interscholastic activities may, upon application, be elected to this conference by 3/4 vote of the membership. New high schools built in member districts must submit to the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the conference requests for inclusion in conference activity one academic year prior to entry.
Section III Withdrawals:
A member school may be dropped from membership by a 3/4 vote of the members and being given a 12-month notice in writing by the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the
Section IV Delegates:
The official conference at the end of any academic year delegates from each conference school to all conference meetings is to be appointed by the Chief Administrator of each member district. Wherein high schools are involved said delegate is to be the high school principal. Each district has one vote per member high school.
Article IV Officers/Leadership:
Section I
a. The officers of this conference shall be a president, Vice-President, and an Executive Secretary-Treasurer. These three officers shall constitute and executive Committee.
b. The leadership for all groups--superintendents, principals, AD's, and Fine Arts will come from the same school each year and the leadership will rotate on an annual basis by alphabetical listing of school districts.
c. Executive Secretary-Treasurer: more than one individual may share the duties of Executive Secretary-Treasurer.
d. The President, Vice President, and the individual(s) holding the position of Executive Secretary Treasurer shall constitute the Executive Committee.
Section II
a. A rotation system for filling the office of President and Vice President shall be used. The Vice-president shall be from the next school in alphabetical order from that of the President. If a vacancy in the Presidency should occur during the school year, the Vice-president shall assume the office of President. The order of rotation shall remain undisturbed by vacancies that occur.
b. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall not be eligible for the office of President or Vice-president under the rotation system unless he resigns from his position as Executive Secretary-Treasurer.
Section III
The President and Vice-president shall take office on July 1.
Section IV
Duties of the President and Vice-president
a. The President shall preside at all conference and executive committee meetings.
b. The Vice-president shall act in absence of the President.
Section V
Executive Secretary-Treasurer:
a. An Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected at the April meeting for the term of three years. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer elect shall assume office July 1. Should there become a vacancy in the position of Executive Secretary-Treasurer the position is to be filled by election and that it is for the duration of the unexspired term.
b. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer is eligible for re-election.
c. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer is to be paid an annual salary out of the conference treasury. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer's school is to be compensated annually for all expenses incurred.
d. The finances of the Badger Conference are to be handled through an account established by the Executive Secretary-Treasurer.
e. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer may at any meeting, present a bill for necessary expenses for approval.
f. Duties:
1. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall keep the minutes at all meetings, distributing the same to each member school and shall prepare and distribute an agenda prior to each scheduled meeting.
2. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall attend to all the correspondence for the Executive Committee.
3. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall submit a complete and detailed financial report to the administrators at the April meeting and shall submit a proposed budget for the following year at the May meeting.
4. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer may call special conference meetings in accordance with Article VI, Section III. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall call meetings of the Executive Committee in accordance with Article IV., Section VI-B.
5. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall be responsible for editing and updating the constitution and by-laws.
6. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall annually prepare, publish, and distribute a conference handbook containing information regarding conference schools, a directory of personnel from each member school involved in the conduct of conference sponsored activities, a calendar of time, meetings, schedules.
7. The Executive Secretary-Treasurer shall purchase and distribute trophies and awards provided for in the by-laws of the Badger Conference Constitution. The specific description of the trophy or award shall be determined by conference action.
8. Annually conduct an evaluation for the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner.
Section VI
Executive Committee: President, Vice President, and the Executive
Secretary / Treasurer.
a. The purpose of this Executive Committee shall be to arbitrate disputes involving schools of the conference. It shall be understood that the rules of the W.I.A.A., W.H.S.F.A., and Wisconsin Music Association, plus rules that may be prescribed by the conference, shall govern all cases. In cases in which a member of the Executive Committee is associated with a school involved in a dispute, an alternate shall be designated. That alternate to be the delegate from the school next in line for the vice-presidency. In the event that a decision cannot be reached, the dispute shall be placed on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Badger Conference or such special meeting as the Executive Committee may choose to call.
b. All disputes between member schools, which they themselves are unable to settle, shall be submitted to the Executive Committee for settlement. Schools desiring to do this shall notify the Executive-Secretary-Treasurer, who shall then call a meeting of the Executive Committee.
c. Any dispute, which involves the rules of a State Association, shall be appealed through the Executive Secreta4ry to the State Association involved.
d. Any Executive Committee action may be appealed to the entire membership upon request of any member school.
Section VII
Standing Committees:
Committees shall function in areas of Conference Sponsored interscholastic activity and be responsible for reporting to the Conference Principals at the request of the Executive Secretary: (1) Athletic Directors, (2) Music Directors, and (3) Communication Arts Directors. The chairman of the above named committees is to be a designate from the school (2 & 3) currently hosting the event.
Section VIII
Conference Commissioner:
a. A Conference Commissioner shall be elected for a three-year term at the April meeting of the conference. The Conference Commissioner elected shall assume his duties on July 1.
b. The Conference Commissioner is eligible for re-election.
c. The Conference Commissioner is to be paid an annual salary out of the conference treasury. The Conference commissioner's school is to be compensated annually for any expenses incurred.
d. Duties: See job description Appendix A
1. The Conference Commissioner shall present a conference schedule in all sports sponsored by the conference. This includes Junior Varsity and Freshmen schedules where applicable.
2. The Conference Commissioner shall select and contract for officials for conference football, basketball, hockey, soccer, girl's volleyball, and wrestling events at the Varsity level. In 2001-02, the commissioner will also select and contract for officials in baseball and softball.
3. The Conference Commissioner & Assistant Conference Commissioner shall keep the minutes of the AD group and also prepare monthly agendas.
4. Complete Duties: See Job description Appendix A.
Article V DUES:
Section I
The annual dues of this conference shall be determined at the April meeting for the following year and the dues are to be paid on or before October 1 of each school year.
Section II
If additional monies are needed a special assessment may be levied against each member school.
Section III
The cost of purchasing all awards is to be charged to the conference account.
Section IV
Additional assessments to each
school may result when some conference-sponsored activities are conducted. The host school conducting a conference
activity shall prepare a financial statement of receipts and expenditures; the
host school shall retain the profit. If
expenditures exceed receipts, the additional money needed shall be pro-rated
and collected from the competing schools unless, by formal action, the money is
taken from the conference treasury. Fees for conference tournaments will be
documented yearly in Appendix M. Member schools will be invoiced for tournament
fees in the fall of each new school year by the conference secretary treasurer.
(10/08/2004)
Article VI Meetings
Section I
a. Conference meetings are to be held on the second Wednesday, of August (AD’s only), September, October, November, January, February, March, April, May and June (AD’s only).
b. The April meeting shall be a joint meeting with the Principals, Athletic Directors, and Superintendents.
Section II
The sites of all conference meetings and activities are set up under a rotation system as established in the May meetings of the previous year, using the alphabetical listings of schools which are contained in Article III, Section I, with the understanding that each new school admitted to the conference be placed immediately in the alphabetical arrangement if proper facilities exist.
Section III
Special meetings may be held at the request of a majority of the schools or called by the Executive Secretary-Treasurer.
Section IV
Three-fourths of the member schools present at any regularly scheduled or officially called special meeting shall constitute a quorum.
Section V
Voting shall be by schools, each school to have one vote, and recorded roll call votes shall be tabulated by the Secretary.
Section VI
Decisions made by majority action at conference meetings shall be binding on member schools. Changes in schedules must be approved by conference athletic directors and representatives of all interested schools and reported to the Conference Commissioner and the member schools.
Section VII
a. The following schedule of meetings relating to the conduct of the conference interscholastic athletic program are authorized:
HEAD COACHES:
1. Head coaches of all sports will meet on a scheduled date at or near the conclusion of conference season.
2. The purposes of the head coaches' meetings shall be as follows: (a) Review the season just concluded, (b) Identify areas in which a change should be considered, developing proposals and recommendations to be submitted in writing to the Athletic Directors, (c) selection of all-conference teams where authorized.
3. A written report of all recommendations coming from the head coaches of all sports shall be sent to the Athletic Directors of all schools within two days following the meeting.
ATHLETIC DIRECTORS
MEETINGS:
1. Conference meetings are held on the second Wednesday of August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April, May, and June.
2. The purposes of the Athletic Directors meetings shall be as follows: (a) Review of all recommendations submitted from all coaches meetings, taking action wherever appropriate and submitting recommendations in writing to the conference Principals, (b) general review of the sports season, taking action on matters deemed necessary and appropriate for submittal to the conference Principals, (c) Review and make recommendations on referrals from the Principals.
3. The chairman of the Athletic Directors and Music and Communication Arts committees are to report to the conference meeting at the request of the Executive Secretary. Said report may be presented by the chairman or a designated individual from the committee chairman's school or district.
4. Any expenses incurred for meetings shall be borne by the individual district.
Article VII Rules
Section I
The W.I.A.A., W.H.S.F.A., Wisconsin Music Association and State Association Rules, plus others prescribed by the conference shall govern all conference contests. Such rules as prescribed by the conference shall govern other events and activities.
Article VIII Championships:
Section I
Conference championships for any sport shall be determined on a point basis. One point shall be recorded for a win, 1/2 point for a tied, and zero for a loss. In forfeited games, the team to whom the game is forfeited receives one point, the other team receiving no points. In the event that both teams forfeit, no points will be awarded.
Section II
Championships may be awarded only when a team has satisfactorily completed its entire schedule. In case of postponed games due to circumstances beyond the control of the schools involved, the host school shall, in consultation with the visiting school, determine the date of the contest. In the event the host school has difficulty in obtaining the services of the officials contracted for the originally scheduled contest, that school shall contact the Conference Commissioner who shall have the responsibility of making all necessary officiating arrangements. In the event arrangements cannot be made to play off uncompleted schedules, the Executive Committee shall have the authority to declare forfeits insofar as championship awards are concerned. If the contest has no bearing on the conference standings it may be cancelled with mutual agreement of the schools involved. (Article 4 – Executive Committee)
Article IX Amendment Procedure:
Section I
This Constitution may be amended by a favorable vote of three-fourths of the members of the conference at any duly called meeting providing that any proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing to all member schools at least ten days in advance of the meeting.
1.
Badger Conference Appeals Board
A. The purpose of the board will be to act on any special problem that affects the proper operation of the Badger Conference.
B. Board members: Past Superintendent Chairman
Present Principal Chairman
Next years Athletic Directors Chairman
Conference Commissioner – Non-Voting Member
C. The board members will serve only a one-year term.
D. Coaches
will appeal to athletic directors regarding a special problem, which cannot be
solved through normal procedures. Athletic Directors and principals can
appeal to the three-person board.
Article X Conference Requirements:
1. Open Enrollment: Badger Conference schools must abide by the provisions of the W.I.A.A.’s open enrollment regulations.
2. The times, dates, and facilities for home contests must be compatible with Badger Conference schedules and standards. The contest may be moved to a neutral site, or the opponent’s site (with the agreement of the two schools). If no agreement can be reached, the Badger Conference Executive Committee will make the decision.
3. All Badger Conference schools must provide supervision by school personnel for spectators, parents, and participants at home events. Supervision at "away" events will be provided as needed or by request. The visiting team must arrive and depart as a team under the supervision of the coaching staff. Fan, player, and parent behavior at athletic events must be within Badger Conference norms.
4. All Conference schools are encouraged to develop programs comparable to the other Conference schools. All Conference schools are expected to take turns in hosting Conference level activities.
5. If the Badger Conference sponsors a sport, all Conference schools offering that sport must participate in the Conference.
6. No student shall participate in more than one (1) school-sponsored interscholastic sport per sports season. For the purpose of this rule there are deemed to be four (4) sports seasons per year: fall, winter, spring and summer. This rule does not apply to overlaps of seasons caused by tournament participation or WIAA scheduled overlaps. A student athlete may change sports during a given sports season but may not return to a sport previously participated in during that sport season.
7. Schools who are not regular members of the Badger Conference who request to join the conference in specific sports will be charged $300 for administrative costs for a single varsity sport. Additional sport request a $150 fee will be charged per additional sport. Charges to begin in the 2008 – 2009 school year. (8/18/08)
Updated: June 20, 2009