Board approves high‑school water polo and golf out‑of‑county trips after driver‑clearance condition

Pacific Grove Unified School District trustees approved two out‑of‑county student activity forms — a water polo contest scheduled for Sept. 5 and an interscholastic golf match Sept. 15 — after staff verified that most adult drivers listed had current out‑of‑county activity (OCA) 1 and 2 forms on file. The board asked staff to ensure that every non‑district driver has required background and driver‑record clearances before students travel.

Trustee Atmar had pulled the items from consent to check whether the OCA checkboxes on the forms were consistently completed. District staff confirmed that the underlying clearance records already existed for several named drivers (including John Martin for the golf trip), but one listed driver for the water polo trip, Sofia Sanico, was not cleared. Trustees approved the trips with a condition that an alternative cleared driver be substituted or the district provide a staffed district vehicle in lieu of an uncleared private driver.

District staff said three adults listed for water polo (Walsh, Lines and Merrick) were cleared on the district tracking spreadsheet; staff offered to arrange an athletic van if vehicle capacity or cleared drivers were insufficient. The board’s motion required that no student be placed in an uncleared adult’s vehicle unless that adult was only transporting his/her own child and otherwise had completed the OCA forms.

The board approved the motion with a 4‑0 vote. Staff said they would confirm clearances before the water polo trip the following day and before the later golf match.