A problem involving the use of the Monroe County Wellness Center by student athletes has been resolved, according to officials.

Monroe County school officials met with members of the Monroe County Wellness Center’s board of directors Monday to discuss why student athletes have not been allowed to use the center’s exercise equipment. The school system agreed to lease the land upon which the Wellness Center sits at no charge in exchange for an “... in-kind use of the facilities by all students enrolled in the Monroe County school system ...,” according to the lease agreement, which was quoted in a letter to Rita Crabtree, chairman of the Wellness Center’s board of directors, from Lewis Carter, superintendent of Monroe County schools.

The letter was dated Nov. 19, and in it Carter said, “From the day you opened your doors, coaches John Petett, Dallas Carnahan and Max Petett have been pleading with you to allow the students of Monroe County use of the Wellness Center in accordance with the lease agreement dated Feb. 22, 2007. ... I have even offered two hours of custodial use once students have access to the building. I believe the Wellness Center is blatantly breaching this lease.”

Attending Monday’s meeting was Carter, Petett, Dwayne Murrey with the school system and Crabtree and Sharon Moore with the Wellness Center’s board of directors and Moore’s husband, Reed, a local attorney.

Reed Moore was invited to sit in on the meeting because of the nature of Carter’s letter and because Carter indicated he might bring his attorney, Sharon Moore said.

Carter said the meeting “went absolutely outstanding. That means our athletes and any student who wants to use it for extra curricular activities can use it.”

The two parties agreed to allow students to use the facility up to 2 1/2 hours a day, five days a week.

“Plus we get to make up all the time we’ve missed in the first three months that we didn’t get use of it,” Carter said.

According to Sharon Moore, “there was some miscommunication within the school system.”

The Wellness Center board of directors had always intended to allow student athletes to use the facility.

“I think school board members were making a mountain out of a mole hill,” Moore said. “We’ve never denied access.”

There are some things that need to be in place first before the facility could be open to the students, she said. The Wellness Center board of directors wanted to make sure they had insurance information from the school system making sure students are covered, and permission slips from students’ parents saying it’s OK for their child to use the facility. The board also wanted to make sure the Wellness Center’s staff had undergone proper training on how to use the equipment and that they had received CPR and first aid training.

“We just wanted to have everything done correctly,” Moore said.

Members of the Wellness Center’s board of directors are to meet with the school system’s coaching staff in a couple of weeks to work out a schedule for student use.

“I think we’ve got everything worked out to their satisfaction,” Moore said.