Coaching Kerfuffle

A debate surrounding the process for filling the girls head basketball coach position dominated the Lincoln School board meeting Sept.12.

The conversation began after Athletic Director Shane Brown finished delivering an update on the school athletic programs and informed the trustees, they had a letter of interest in their packets for the coaching job.

The position has been vacant since earlier this year. The school board had hired Dani Fry as coach, but she withdrew from the position not long after the board approved her.

Before board chairman Aaron Birkholz started a discussion on the topic, trustee Ken Lumpkin recommended Brown for the position, which led to confusion about whether he had misspoken since the letter of interest they had was from Shane Smith. Lumpkin confirmed that he was indeed recommending Brown.

Birkholz initially asked for a second on the recommendation for Brown, but retracted it after some discussion since they had the letter of interest from Smith in their packet, but not one from Brown.

A difference of opinion between Birkholz and Lumpkin set off an extended debate about whether it was correct to act on Lumpkin's recommendation before acting on the letter of interest from Smith.

Lumpkin argued that his recommendation should take precedent since there hadn't been a recommendation for Smith.

However, Birkholz pointed out that he was still looking through the packet for Smith's letter of interest and hadn't asked for any recommendations at the time Lumpkin put Brown's name forward.

Superintendent Jen Packer explained that the hiring process usually starts with a letter of interest, followed by a recommendation from either the Superintendent or the Athletic Director, depending on the position. The board trustees then make a motion on the recommendation. She said Brown hadn't recommended Smith nor could he recommend himself, but she said the board could probably decide to act on a recommendation from a trustee.

Following a lengthy back and forth, Birkholz made the call to consider Smith's letter of interest first, since it was on the agenda and in their packets.

Trustee Wendi Dietz made a motion to hire Smith. Without a response from the other trustees, Birkholz seconded the motion to open a discussion on hiring Smith.

Sarah Tams voiced her support as a parent for Smith, during public comment, saying he is encouraging and positive with the girls and worked with them to get better.

Packer and trustee Billy Cyr were both curious if Smith felt he could handle both the high school and junior high coaching positions at the same time. Smith said he took that into consideration before submitting his letter interest and felt he could handle both positions, particularly if they found a good assistant coach for both teams. Currently both assistant coaching positions are unfilled.

During board comments, Scott Fry said he couldn't support Smith for the position due to what he said was the drama Smith had been involved in, which he believed led to Dani Fry's decision to step away from the basketball coaching position.

Dietz, who was one of the trustees taken by surprise by Lumpkins recommendation of Brown, expressed her disappointment in the board's process, saying she wanted transparency and didn't like coming into a meeting feeling like she didn't know what was going on.

The trustees finally voted 3-2 against the motion to hire Smith, with Birkholz and Dietz voting in favor and Fry, Lumpkin and Billy Cyr voting against.

Birkholz then moved on to consider Lumpkin's recommendation of Brown for the position.

Tams again took advantage of public comment to note her frustration as a community member with the perceived lack of transparency and favoritism at the school. She said there are complaints about the lack of applicants for the coaching positions, and that situations like this are part of the frustration people feel with the process.

When questioned about his interest in the position, Brown said he felt it was the AD's role to fill the position if they didn't have a suitable applicant.

"What makes (Smith) not a suitable applicant?" Dietz asked.

Though Brown never claimed Smith was unsuitable, he said he abstained from making a recommendation for him based on things he had heard through the years about how Smith handled students and practices and on parent's concern that he's heard during previous years.

After more assertions about Dani Fry's treatment at an earlier meeting and questions about the board's response to public comments, Brown said it ultimately came down to the kids and knowing who their coach is. "They need to know we are doing what we can to get them a coach because we failed the last time," he said, adding he felt it was in the kids' best interest to figure out a way to get it solved that night.

Although Brown has already been approved as the boy's head basketball coach, the board approved the motion to hire him as the girl's head basketball coach as well, with another split 3-2 vote. Fry, Lumpkin and Cyr voted in favor, while Birkholz and Dietz voted against.

The controversy over the coaching position dominated the meeting, but it wasn't the only important topic discussed.

Packer reported that the school used Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding that stemmed from the COVID pandemic to improve safety for the students. In addition to funding a storage shed to free up classroom space, they were able to upgrade the school's security.

"We have the new security system that has new cameras, which have a facial recognition, so if there's someone we don't recognize, it would alert," Packer said.

The upgrades also include a new locking system for the doors, which allow the staff to use fobs to access the building. It also lets Packer schedule when the doors lock and unlock.

The meeting also saw the board approve the resignation of school clerk Danielle Barnett after four months on the job. Her pending resignation had been discussed at the August school board meeting.

Barnett explained that the last four months had been an eye-opening experience for her and has already taken a toll on her family and on her physically, emotionally and mentally. She supplied a frank assessment of her reasons for choosing to step down.

"I want more than anything for this school to be successful. I am the kind of person who wants to figure it out and do it and do my best, but it's been a hard thing for me to do ," she said. "I literally can't do it. I'm not succeeding, to the point where I feel like I am going to fail the school, and I am not going to let that happen."

The board thanked her for her honesty and approved her resignation.