Former Elyria coach accuses athletic director of delaying job posting; board carves out indoor girls track posting

A retired Elyria coach told the Elyria City Board of Education she believes Athletic Director Heather Beck deliberately delayed posting the head girls track coaching position and failed to communicate with her, and the board separately carved out the indoor girls track supplemental from a personnel approval vote.

At the start of public comment, Jackie Belo said, “I would like to address the board about the passive aggressive, unprofessional, and disrespectful actions of athletic director Heather Beck.” Belo said she retired from Elyria after 37 years in the district, 32 of them as head girls track coach, and that she never formally resigned her coaching post. She said the athletic office had her certifications but that Beck did not post the supplemental position on the usual schedule and did not inform her the position was open.

The board’s attorney, Donna Andrews, later explained state rules for supplemental contracts and how collective bargaining agreements interact with them. Andrews told the board that the Ohio Revised Code gives preference to certified employees when awarding supplemental contracts, but that noncertified community members may hold positions when no certified employee applies; she also said positions are required to be posted each season under the district’s collective bargaining procedures. Andrews described a statutory exception that allows long-serving nonemployee coaches to retain roles in some cases but said such exceptions presuppose continued employment or specific conditions.

Belo told the board that she first learned someone was being encouraged to apply when she saw a text from Beck to another candidate asking them to apply, and that she then applied online “to cover my bases.” She said the delay meant the district did not field an indoor track season and that a senior who had hoped to use indoor meets to draw college interest lost that opportunity. She added that her grandson, Mateo Medina, an All-Ohio athlete, still had not received a Hall of Fame photo or ring communication that she expected to be handled through the athletic office.

During the meeting the board considered routine superintendent personnel items. Board members moved to approve the personnel packet but to carve out the indoor head girls track supplemental for separate consideration; the motion to approve the remaining items carried in a roll-call vote recorded as “Aye” by the voting members. The carved-out indoor girls track supplemental remained separate from that approved package for tonight’s action.

Belo ended public comment saying she declined to interview after concluding the work environment under the athletic director would not be in her best interest. She told the board, “All I wanted was to be treated with respect that I have earned and with dignity.”

The board did not make a separate hiring decision for the carved-out indoor head girls track position during the meeting; the personnel packet otherwise approved included retirements, resignations, unpaid leaves and athletic supplemental contracts for spring positions, as described by the superintendent and treasurer.

The board attorney’s explanation of law and the treasurer’s and superintendent’s remarks were the principal factual contexts presented to members; no formal findings about misconduct were made during the meeting.