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Lebanon father accuses high-school softball coach of long-running abuse; board moves to executive session
Summary
At the July 15 Lebanon City Schools board meeting, resident Juan Gonzales accused softball coach Brian Kendall of long-running mental abuse and bullying of female players and said district staff did not respond; the board moved to enter executive session to consider an investigation of the complaint.
Juan Gonzales, a resident of the Lebanon school district, told the Lebanon City Schools board on July 15 that his daughter and other female athletes were “mentally abused and bullied” by Lebanon High School softball coach Brian Kendall and that multiple reports to school administrators produced no action.
“My name is Juan Gonzales,” Gonzales said during public comment. He described repeated reports he said he made to school principals and to human resources (naming Brian Dalton) and said the athletic director, Keith Pantling, had been involved in handling those reports. “They do absolutely nothing about it whatsoever,” Gonzales told the board, and he said some players quit softball and others stayed despite the alleged mistreatment.
Gonzales said his daughter earned about $200,000 in scholarships and that the alleged conduct left her seriously affected: “I was scared to look at my daughter's bedroom sometimes because I didn't know what I was gonna find in there,” he said. He also said he had been told by other parents and former players that they, too, had reported complaints.
Board members did not resolve the allegations in open session. Later in the meeting a board member moved to amend the agenda and enter executive session to consider “the investigation of charges or complaints against the public employee” under the statutory exception cited by the board. The motion passed by roll call, and the board announced it would enter executive session at 6:41 p.m. and would take no action afterward other than to adjourn.
The board did not state in public who would conduct any investigation, whether an external investigator would be retained, or a timetable for next steps. No denial or response from Coach Kendall, human-resources staff, or athletic administration was made on the public record during the meeting.
What happens next: the board moved the matter into closed session under the Ohio Revised Code provision cited at the meeting; any formal findings, personnel actions or additional public reporting would depend on what the board and staff decide following that executive-session discussion.
