Portage High School ballfields could get names to honor coaches

Chicago Tribune

24-06-2025

Portage High School's football field and baseball diamond could be getting new names to honor longtime coaches.
Frank Hobart asked the Portage Township School Board on Monday to rename the football field Les Klein Field.
It was good timing.
School Board President Andy Maletta had sent a message to Superintendent Amanda Alaniz a week prior suggesting it would mean a lot to rename that field for Klein while he's still alive.
'I think it would be a great honor for him,' Maletta said, along with others who attended PHS during Klein's tenure.
Hobart, a member of the coaching staff and faculty and Portage, attended Michigan City's Elston High School, playing Portage teams twice. He called them tough and fair. 'You knew you were in for a battle,' he said.
'Go Big Red' on the football field represents the school color, but honoring Klein would be better, Hobart said.
The ceremony could happen when Portage faces Hobart High School's Brickies, 'a longtime nemesis, longtime rival,' he said. PHS Indians from the past would want to attend.
'Hollywood, right, makes movies about this stuff,' Hobart said.
In July, Alaniz said, she planned to ask the board to consider not only renaming the football field for Klein but also the baseball diamond for longtime coach Larry Casbon.
In other business Monday, the School Board kept prices intact for adult meals at the district's schools. Breakfast will remain $2.85 and lunch $5.
'The increase is usually minor,' board Vice President Wilma Vazquez said, but she's pleased to see it unchanged.
The school calendar for next year was tweaked, too, to move a scheduled day off to April 3 instead of April 17. 'Moving forward, it will always be whatever day Good Friday falls on,' Alaniz said.
The board also made tweaks to the student/parent handbook. Vazquez asked about the grace period for parents to provide proof of residence. They have 45 days to provide those documents, Alaniz said, and get a 15-day notice when time is running short. Alananiz praised school secretaries, who 'play a very big role in helping us track that down.'
The board also approved three of four new contracts for support personnel. The transportation workers are still negotiating terms of their contract.
Food service workers gain a $100 clothing allowance to buy nonslip shoes, and custodians can get paid time off in hourly increments so they don't need to take an entire day off for issues like doctor appointments, Alaniz said.
Support staff who serve as substitute teachers will get $25 for a half day and $50 for a full day. If they are posted outside to supervise students, either boarding or getting off a bus or overseeing recess, they will get $100 for weather gear.
'You are an integral part of the school system,' Maletta said.
'Without these groups, we cannot function,' Vazquez said. 'Our children would not be able to get the education they need.'
Alaniz thanked the United Steelworkers teams who have been working since January on these contracts for negotiating in good faith. 'I want to encourage them to relax and recharge,' she said.