When people attend a school board meeting wearing school colors and T-shirts that read "Love and Basketball," it's obvious Ignacio is a basketball town.

Renewing a coaching contract, along with some recent criticism about the level of teaching turnover in the district, was enough to attract about 25 members of the public to Tuesday night's school board meeting.

Several people addressed the board during 30 minutes of public comment.

Coaching in Ignacio involves heavy doses of nepotism and conflicts of interest, said Germain Ewing of Arboles. Coaches routinely coach their own children and work with family members in coaching teams.

This isn't fair to the athletes involved, particularly those who are trying to get scholarships in their sports, she said.

Ewing also questioned the school district administration's handling of the number of teachers and staff resignations this year.

"What are you guys doing to resolve this issue?" she said, noting that the district was dealing with the same issue back in 2010. The district needs to conduct exit interviews with teachers to find out if it's salaries, other issues, or a lack of support that's causing some teachers to leave, she said.

The rest of Tuesday's comments involved the coaching issue.

At the June 9 meeting, board members approved renewing the contracts of several coaches, including Chris Valdez as head boys basketball coach and his brother, Johnny Valdez, as the boys' assistant coach. The contracts for Shane Seibel, head girls coach, and his son, Trae, an assistant coach, were tabled.

Naomi Russell, the mother of a standout player on the girls' team, said the Seibels do not focus enough on conditioning and preparing for 2A post-season competition.

"We have an easy league," she said. "We get to the end...and we break down."

To compete at a higher level, a change in coaching is needed, she said. Her daughter also has been treated unfairly by the coaches after she complained, she claimed.

Two mothers of basketball players and one grandmother defended the Seibels, saying they are excellent coaches.

After her daughter injured herself skiing, "our coaches helped her emotionally, physically and in conditioning," Michelle Richmond said. "They are an asset to our community and our students."

Naomi Quintana said the Seibels have taught her granddaughter "integrity and responsibility." They also spend much of their free time in the summer taking high school and middle school girls to basketball camps throughout the region, she added.

Trae Seibel attended the meeting to speak on his own behalf and for his father.

Successfully coaching basketball involves a "high level of personal accountability," he said, as well as being able to stand up to criticism.

Of Russell's daughter, he said, "I respect her. We don't hold grudges. We move forward."

School board directors thanked people for attending.

"It's good to see everyone here," Director Doug Little said. "I wish it had happened much earlier." The board members need to work on following proper channels about personnel issues, he added.

After a 90-minute executive session to discuss high school administration issues, the board voted 5-0 to renew the Seibels in their coaching positions.

In other action, the board voted to raise the cost of each school meal by 25 cents each year and will start enforcing a policy it approved last year. That policy states that after three unpaid charges for a school meal, students will start getting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a piece of fruit for a meal.

"Parents won't pay their bills," said Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto. The food service program is supposed to break even, but last year required $160,000 from the district's general fund to balance the books.

Fuschetto said the district has tried payment plans, letters and e-mails, and even sending past-due accounts to a collection agency. Some parents fall $300 to $400 behind during the school year, so with a couple of kids, a bill can total $1,000 or more by the end of the year.

"I don't want to be the person to do that," Fuschetto said of the minimal lunch. "It's a no-win situation." Fuschetto said many of these students may qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches, but parents won't fill out the paperwork for the federal program.

Added board president Robert Schurman, "I don't know how to do it," he said of getting parents to pay or apply for the lunch program. "It's the million-dollar question."