SLEEPY EYE — The District 84 Board of Education discussed possible future football alignments during most of its meeting Wednesday.

“We are locked in to play 11-man football for fall 2020 vs. the same opponents (of last year). We just flip flop sites. Section opponents would also remain the same,” said football coach and athletic director Cory Haala. “We could co-op with a school like Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and likely remain where we are at.”

Haala said new section and district (conference) alignment will take place in spring 2021 for the 2021 fall season.

“We will need to determine as a district in particular for 9-man, co-op or opt up early in 2021 based on our Oct. 1, 2020, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) enrollment,” Haala said. “That number will be used for 2021 and 2022 district and section placement.”

Haala said Sleepy Eye High School opted up from 9-man to play 11-man football. He said the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) allows schools to count the largest school’s full enrollment and half of the enrollment of any other school in a co-op.

“There is some MSHSL discussion that this may go away at some point,” Haala said.

“We talked to St. Mary’s people about a co-op. There was some interest but not from school administration. They mentioned us playing 9-man (as St. Mary’s does).”

Haala said there was interest in a co-op team with Cedar Mountain High School.

“I’d like to pair with Cedar Mountain in football. I think we should form a committee to meet with you about it,” said board chairwoman Darla Remus. A committee was formed including Remus and board members Casey Coulson and Bryan Sellner.

Board members unanimously approved:

• Accepting donations including $2,000 from Central Region Cooperative and an anonymous $38.82 donation to benefit PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports).

• Retaining school board officers Chairperson Darla Remus, Vice Chair Casey Coulson, Clerk Sheila Wurtzberger and Treasurer Joleen Dittbenner.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.