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Families press New Albany-Plain Local board for answers after mass resignations of high-school football staff
Summary
Speakers at the June 8 board meeting urged transparency after the near-total departure of the New Albany High School varsity coaching staff, saying public records and dispositions do not match the resulting resignations and asking when and why decisions were made.
Several parents and community members used public comment on June 8 to press the board for transparency after multiple resignations from the New Albany High School football coaching staff earlier in the year.
Chrissy Pratt told the board she had obtained a disposition via public records and said it "makes no mention of termination, non-renewal, or resignation," yet the outcome was that coaches left their posts. Pratt listed about 10 varsity coaches who resigned and asked when the decision to remove coaches was made and what facts supported the action.
Monique Britain, who said her husband Bobby Britain coached in the district for 19 years, told the board the departures harmed the football program and students and argued the district failed to conduct a thorough, impartial investigation into allegations that led to the resignations.
Pratt and Britain asked for public records and said they would pursue them; they also questioned whether the district interviewed all relevant staff during any fact-finding investigations and asked the board to explain the process and basis for personnel decisions.
Board members heard calls for answers but did not announce a public resolution during the June 8 meeting. Speakers said they have filed or plan to file public-records requests to obtain documentation about the disposition, interviews and the sequence of events that led to resignations.
