Polson trustees consider climbing wall for middle school

If you hear that the students are climbing the walls at Polson Middle School, don't worry — it's not out of frustration.

Two school district employees, Michael Sherman and Nancy Hemphill, outlined their plan at this month's school board meeting to try to get a 20-foot-tall climbing wall erected at the middle school in an effort to offer another recreational activity for students, as well as one that offers educational and team-building opportunities, too.

According to Sherman, the wall, which would be built by Wild Walls of Spokane, would cost about $20,000, and require a couple thousand dollars a year in maintenance and equipment expenses, but would be covered under the district's existing insurance policy.

Currently, Cherry Valley elementary has an eight-foot climbing wall, but the proposed one at the middle school would resemble bona fide climbing walls used around the country to train rock climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts — an idea that would work well with students, Sherman noted.

He said there are climbing walls already in place at Whitefish and Big Sky high schools, and that the evidence suggests they are perfectly safe, as long as there are trained personnel to assist students, monitor usage, and train students in safe handling. Sherman said the walls are generally perceived as being more dangerous than they generally are.

"The perceived risk is high although the actual risk is low," Sherman said.

Sherman said the Australian Sports Medicine Foundation documented two injuries per 1,000 hours of usage on climbing walls — far less than typical high school sports — and that the National Library of Medicine, in conjunction with the National Institute of Health, documented only four injuries in analyzing 10 walls over a six-month period.

The key to student safety is to have properly trained personnel on hand, and to train students, as well, Sherman said.

Rock climbers typically use "belayers" — someone who handles the climber's rope while wearing a harness and using a pulley system that offsets sudden tugs on the rope, such as when a climber falls. By using a belayer, climbers might fall a foot or two, but are in no real risk of injury, Sherman said.

"If the belayer is doing his job, the climber is never really at risk," he said.

Using special equipment, climbers can be secured even if the belayer lets go of the rope, Sherman explained.

"It's a foolproof device," he said of the safety equipment the district would utilize.

Sherman said effective implementation of such a wall would include having trained and certified staff on hand; providing training to climbers and belayers; keeping accurate training and safety records; having semiannual, third-party and daily inspections of the equipment; making sure the wall is closed off when not in use to prevent unauthorized users; and having students sign a liability release.

The benefits far outweigh any liability, Sherman said, and include increased student self-confidence as they "get outside their comfort zone," physical exercise, and more emotional balance that comes from being challenged.

Sherman talked to the board about the benefits of experiential learning, in which students could really benefit from overcoming challenges they'd never faced before. Board members didn't question him about the benefits of a climbing wall, but had concerns about equipment maintenance and related costs, as well as liability to the district.

Sherman acknowledged that there would probably be annual maintenance and inspection costs, but said he didn't have a firm idea of what those costs might be. He said buying new equipment each year to ensure safety and reduce liability could cost more than $1,000 per year.

High school principal Rick Rafter asked how Sherman the district should handle requests from the general public to use the wall, and Sherman said it would represent a good opportunity to offset expenses by charging an hourly or daily rate to cover the trained personnel needed to supervise such an activity. In doing so, the district could pay for equipment and inspections in the process, he noted.

Of primary concern to board members was how to keep people off the wall when it wasn't being properly supervised, either during school hours or after hours when the public might be using the gym for basketball practice, for example.

"That's my biggest concern — keeping kids off," board member Elke Allik said.

Putting a cover over the wall that is secured by lock and key was one idea, Sherman said. He noted that if students were properly trained as belayers, it would drastically reduce the time that the wall wouldn't be in use.

"It doesn't happen overnight," Sherman said of training students to be belayers.

Board members said they'd need more information, including expected maintenance and inspection costs, insurance requirements, and securing it in off-hours, before they could give Sherman and Hemphill the green light to proceed with the project.

Sherman said he'd do some more research and contact other schools with climbing walls and come back with some more information. He said a timetable for implementing the wall would all depend on how quickly the money could be raised.

In other school board news:

Polson Baseball Association president Ron Grogan presented the board with a nice First Aid station as a thank-you for the use of the district's softball fields to host the Western Montana State Cal Ripken baseball tourney last summer, an event that was well-received by coaches around the western part of the state. Board members said the first aid station could be located in the concession stand. (Although the fields didn't have a first aid station until now, the Polson Ambulance Service, and/or school district trainers, are on hand whenever a game is played at the fields.)

Grogan suggested that the district consider hiring a part-time organizer to help coordinate use of the fields in the summer, when ASA and recreational softball teams and local baseball teams must schedule times well in advance. He said local softball and baseball associations would probably be willing to help pay a small salary for a coordinator, given the extensive use of the fields.