WIAA rules that districts have to approve extra coach pay

There go my plans to become the state's richest forensics coach.

At the Representative Assembly's annual meeting at Emerald Downs on Monday, an amendment that could potentially limit outside pay and gifts to high-school coaches passed by a 49-4 count.

Fair or not, Goncharoff, the football coach who has led Bellevue to five state championships in the past six years, became the face of Substitute Amendment 12, which states that "Coaching stipends and all gifts to a coach exceeding a total of $500 in a season must be approved by the school's board of directors."

A school-district investigation into the Bellevue football program last year revealed that boosters pay Goncharoff $55,000 in addition to his coaching stipend from the district of about $5,600. The district, unaware of the pay, last fall asked the WIAA to look into putting limits on booster clubs' ability to pay coaches.

The WIAA elected to put that decision in the hands of school boards.

No word on the proposed booing ban; that may mean it's a dead letter. I'll post an update if that changes.