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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that is making its way through the 2022 legislative general session could incentivize directors of the largest department in Utah schools — athletic directors — to seek national certification and training, something that experts say is highly needed.
"The person that's supposed to coach the coaches doesn't require any training or certification," said Rich Barton, Richfield High School athletic director and certification coordinator at the Utah Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
The new bill, SB67, would require the Utah Legislature to set aside money for salary and benefits for certified athletic directors and certified master athletic directors, but also directs the State Board of Education to develop application requirements and details for the position.
Long hours, no incentive for certification
This is important, Barton said, as athletic directors work long days and are liable for the successes and failures that come with overseeing hundreds of student-athletes at any particular school.
"The job is extremely intense ... at 3:30 or 4 o'clock, the second half of our day is just getting started with supervising activities and game management," Barton said.
The conclusion of the school year doesn't bring a break for athletic directors, either, as they're responsible for things such as arranging travel plans for teams participating in summer camps.
"It's one of those missing holes in secondary education. Decision-makers have never really realized that it needs to be filled with required certification," Barton said.
"The person in the building that has to certify to the Utah State Board of Education that all of the coaches in their program (are certified) — which can be up to 100 depending on how big the school is — does not require certification. There is no good answer to why that's not the case," said Marc Hunter, executive director of the Utah Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and certified master athletic administrator.
That, Hunter and Barton said, is part of why they're pushing for SB67 to pass. The financial incentive that could potentially come from being a National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association certified athletic director would serve as extra motivation for athletic directors who may be on the fence about getting certified or not.
Athletic directors in Utah are required to verify the certification of coaches but currently don't require any certification themselves.
"I've got around 85 to 90 coaches," Barton added. "Every year, I'm responsible to make sure — before those people can work with student-athletes — that they have completed eight trainings, before they can be with kids, but the ironic thing is the person in the school that has stewardship to make sure all those people have done what they're supposed to, we don't require any preparation for our position, no certification, no nothing."
Hunter said that if the bill doesn't pass through the legislature this year, he fears that the status-quo will be upheld and athletic directors will have no reason to seek certification.
"It's going to be what we've always had, which means we're going to get what we've always got," Hunter said.
He estimated that right now, around a third of the athletic directors in Utah are National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association certified.
"Our goal from the get-go is what's best for kids," Barton said. "Right now, an uncertified, inexperienced (athletic director) leading 80 plus coaches, even thousands of participants in our state — that's not best for kids — we shouldn't be surprised when there's problems."
Problems with not being certified
Hunter said that having a certified athletic director means easier mediation of problems as they arise, and no, or at least fewer legal ramifications if an incident occurs within a school's athletic department.
"I'm fairly confident that if you look at the school where you had (an) issue, the athletic director was not certified," Hunter said.
"Or they were inexperienced because of the turnover in the (athletic director) position," Barton added.
The high turnover rate among athletic directors in Utah is part of what led Sen. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork, to sponsor SB67.
"We're losing (athletic directors), there's a high turnover rate and I think that's problematic," McKell said.
"Athletics in Utah is a high-risk area for educators. If we have problems across the state, oftentimes it involves something in athletics with coaches, with students, which is why I think having AD's go through a certification process and trained is important," McKell said.
Hunter said that being a certified athletic director won't prevent incidents from happening full-stop, but having that certification allows for certain initiatives in place to help mitigate these incidents before they become larger problems.
"Bad things can happen despite our best efforts, but the likelihood is tremendously increased at a school where the AD has not passed a certification exam (or) taken all of the legal courses (that come with certification)," Barton said.
Mckell said that the fiscal note for SB67 is less than $200,000, and stipends can be up to $5,000, though he anticipates that number coming down after negotiations.
"I think we're going to negotiate that number, it'll probably come down a little bit. In the end, it'll mirror what some of our national certified teachers, what that stipend is," McKell said.
Currently, Utah provides an annual salary supplement of $1,000 to board-certified teachers. Board-certified teachers employed at a Title I school are provided an annual salary supplement of $2,000.
"We certainly don't want to send the message that we don't value our teachers at the same level as our athletic departments. We value all of our educators," McKell said.
Currently, the bill is circled while McKell and education groups negotiate to determine the exact amount for the stipend.
"This (bill) is to put highly qualified, certified people in charge of the largest department in every school," Barton said.
