Athletic co-op special meeting

The July 8 meeting of the Odessa and Harrington school boards was a special meeting held in Harrington to complete business regarding the two schools’ athletic cooperative that had been tabled at the previous meeting in June.

The June meeting had drawn a relatively large crowd of parents from both towns who had expressed discontent with the Odessa board’s filling of a coaching position without the Harrington board’s expressed approval and various other issues of communication between the two school administrations and boards.

Parents from both communities also expressed discontent with the approach of a particular coach and said they felt their concerns were not being taken seriously. Too little positive reinforcement and too much yelling were some of the problems cited. Lack of playing time being granted to Harrington players was also of concern to some.

Since the matter involved a school employee, much of the discussion following the public input had to be held in executive session by the two boards. The boards were in executive session for approximately 40 minutes, while the public waited in the school corridors or outdoors.

The employee in question read a brief statement to the public and then made his case to the board members in the executive session. Two of the five members of the Odessa board were not present due to work-related matters, but all five Harrington board members were present. After weighing all of the facts and public input and hearing from the employee himself, the boards voted to approve the hiring of the employee for three separate coaching positions during the coming academic year. The vote was unanimous, 8 to 0, in favor of hiring the coach, with the proviso that a coaching improvement plan be put in place between the employee and the athletic director.