Co-Bball head coaches it will be. A school board boo-boo?

On Monday night (8/27/07) the school board voted 5-1-1 (No vote: Caren Diedrich; Abstaining: David Stackhouse) to approve a settlement agreement to resolve the grievance filed by basketball coach Jeff Boos.


The vote was preceded by statements made by three residents/basketball program supporters each of whom respectfully counselled the board to review the detail of the agreement and only vote to approve it if there was sufficient "teeth" included to ensure compliance with provisions of the agreement and ensure equity of treatment to anyone who wishes to be a part of the basketball program.


Following a motion from David Stackhouse (2nd: Havel-Lang) to table the agreement pending a more extensive closed session discussion, a lengthy discussion ensued between board members. I guess the $900 that the board spent recently for a short course from attorney Mike Julka on Robert's Rules of Order didn't take. A motion to table ("lay on the table) an item cannot be debated. It must instantly go to vote. A simple majority is all that is needed.

Robert's Rules of Order online: http://www.rulesonline.com/start.html

During the discussion, Jims Carrel and McCourt whittled the issue down to being about approving an agreement with which both district administration and Mr. Boos were comfortable.

Caren Diedrich most eloquently framed her concern that co-head coaches was not a viable solution when she asked board president David Stackhouse how he would feel if he were suddenly forced to be co-president with Mary Ellen Havel-Lang. Caren...that comment was a 3-pointer with nothing but net!

Perhaps we don't have all the information, but we sure have questions...starting with these:

1. How can the school district essentially take a teacher or coach to task, all the way up to a "Level III grievance", and NOT know that they had perhaps over-stepped their authority with respect to the SPEA contract?
2. Where is the accountability here? If this Pandora's box was all or in any part due to administration over-stepping their bounds, does that not reflect negatively on Dr. Culver's performance as a manager?
3. And shouldn't the board be taking issue with how all this was handled?
4. Board member Jim Carrel loves to talk about the need for "metrics" against which to evaluate contracts or performance, yet the "agreement" doesn't appear to contain any such benchmarks.
5. We always hear Dr. Culver and the board saying "it's all about the kids", but this seems to be all about doing something that will please Mr. Boos. What about the kids who want to be part of the basketball program? How will they fare with all this drama hanging overhead like a Sword of Damocles?
6. And what about recently appointed varsity basketball coach Jay Swanson....did anybody give a thought to how he felt about all this? Granted, sources indicate that Mr. Swanson is a great, stand-up guy....not the type that would want to "rock the boat"...even if he did feel uncomfortable.