Parents, students urge Bay City ISD board to spare longtime coach; closed‑session personnel item returns with no termination motion
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Summary
Multiple parents and students pleaded with the Bay City ISD board not to terminate a longtime coach, citing his positive impact. The board discussed personnel matters in closed session and later took no motion to pursue midterm termination, leaving the matter unresolved.
Public commenters pressed the Bay City ISD Board of Trustees on the fate of a longtime coach, urging the board to pursue mentoring rather than immediate dismissal.
At the audience-with-patrons portion of the meeting, Tammy Tennant, who identified herself as a former BCISD teacher and parent, told trustees: "Why are we so quick to terminate, so quick to pressure resignations instead of doing what other great districts do, train, mentor, support, and grow the best of the best?" Tennant asked the board and Superintendent Thompson to "cultivate talent and not crush it." Several other parents echoed that plea and described the coach as a stabilizing presence in students’ lives.
Multiple students gave first‑person testimony. One student told the board, "Coach is one of the best teachers I ever had," and another sixth grader said the coach "treats every student with respect" and "makes us feel like we matter." Alumni and parents also described the coach as hardworking, coachable and impactful to student confidence and participation.
The board later moved into a closed session that the agenda said would include consideration of midterm contract termination proceedings for noncertified employees (the posted item lists two names in the minutes). After returning to open session, the board considered the related agenda item but, according to the minutes, the item "died for lack of motion." No vote to terminate was taken in open session.
Board members and staff did not offer a public rebuttal to the comments during the meeting; the transcript records extensive public testimony and the board’s subsequent executive session. The district’s published agenda and the meeting minutes list personnel and legal citations for the closed session deliberations.
Next steps: The transcript shows the personnel matter was discussed in closed session and that no public motion was made to move forward with a midterm termination when business resumed in open session. The board did approve other routine hiring motions during the meeting.
Ending: The board adjourned after addressing all agenda items and scheduling a special meeting for Dec. 8 to manage outstanding administrative business.
