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Residents urge board to reverse decision on football coaching appointment, say students were overlooked
Summary
Two public commenters told the board the district failed students after a decision affecting the high school football program; speakers asked the board to reconsider and cited the coach's role as mentor.
Two members of the public used the board's public-comment period to press the board to reconsider a recent decision affecting the ConVal high school football program and its assistant coach.
Johanna Maxwell of Greenfield told the board she believed a recent decision was made without regard for how "the football team and the football community... feels about that decision" and said, "We have failed them. We have failed at putting them first." She described uncertainty among players about the program's future and said the decision had affected students' "future goals." Maxwell asked the board to follow the district's stated mantra, "We are ConVal," and to consider students first.
Erin Michaud of Peterborough also addressed the board. She said Brad Davis had served three years as an assistant coach and had "revived the dying middle school football program" and that she had not heard complaints about him from the athletic director. "Brad Davis deserves and has earned the right to lead ConVal football into its best chapter yet. A grave error has occurred, and we need to make it right," she said.
Board members did not take a vote or announce a reversal during the meeting. The public-comment speakers framed their remarks as appeals to the board; no official record of the specific personnel decision, its authorizing motion or vote was presented during public comment.
