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Anson County student tells board to keep longtime coach, citing commitment to players
Summary
A rising senior at Anson County Early College urged the Anson County Schools board to retain “Coach Mac,” saying the coach has provided years of commitment and support to student-athletes. The comment was filed during the public-comment portion of the board’s meeting; the board did not act on personnel matters at the session.
Jaya Smith, a rising senior at Anson County Early College and a member of the superintendent’s student advisory council, used the board’s public-comment period to urge school leaders to retain a longtime community coach referred to as “Coach Mac.”
Smith told the board that Coach Mac has served as a mentor and ‘‘father figure’’ to many athletes and has provided time, food and informal support out of his own pocket. ‘‘Keeping coach Mac isn’t just a smart decision. It’s just the right decision,’’ she said.
Smith said students have heard ‘‘talks of letting coach Mac go and coach Cline go,’’ and she questioned a district preference, as she described it, for coaches who are employed by the school system: ‘‘If you want coaches who work in a school system, why didn’t you just hire somebody who doesn’t? Why does that standard apply only when it’s convenient…?’’ She added that the district recently hired a cheerleading coach who is not a school-system employee and argued that applying the employee-only expectation selectively would create ‘‘a breeding ground for favoritism.’’
In her remarks Smith emphasized the coaches’ noncompetitive contributions: that Coach Mac ‘‘feeds us before every game out of his own pockets’’ and ‘‘shows up when no one else does.’’ She told the board, ‘‘We are heard but not listened to, and we’re tired of it,’’ and asked members to ‘‘truly listen’’ before making a personnel decision.
The board did not respond to Smith’s comments during the public-comment period. The board’s public-comment practice, read earlier in the meeting, states that the board will not address or respond to public comment except for clarification until the superintendent has had an opportunity to investigate the presented issues and, if warranted, the board consults legal counsel.
No personnel actions regarding the coaches were taken at this meeting. The board proceeded to agenda items and approved its consent agenda later in the session.
The board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Aug. 25 (calendar items were noted during the meeting); the board’s public-comment rules limit each speaker to three minutes.
