Parents and students press Buckeye Valley board over coaches’ contracts; board declines to rescind

Hundreds of community members crowded the Buckeye Valley Board of Education meeting on June 30 to urge the board to restore or explain actions affecting longtime track and soccer coaches, and to press for clearer procedures for handling parent complaints.

Caroline Jordan, a Buckeye Valley alum and current college student, described the coaches as formative mentors and said their work produced measurable gains for athletes: “They made the 901 family feel like a real family for me,” she told the board. Several other students and parents gave similar accounts of improved team competitiveness and opportunities they attribute to the coaching staff.

Coach Kim Miller, who spoke during the public-comment period, said she was “publicly humiliated, bullied, and accosted” at an event on June 5 and that district administrators did not follow up; she said she and a co‑coach were told by phone two hours before a scheduled practice that they had been let go and that no substantive reasons were given. “The OHSAA guidelines that the board adopted were ignored,” Miller said.

Speakers also raised specific operational claims: Riley Jarvis said a district policy that prohibited coaches from assisting with athlete stretching contributed to increased injuries and cost the team a chance to compete in a relay at the state meet; other speakers described summer‑conditioning cancellations and families shifting athletes to other programs after a June 16 email announcing canceled conditioning.

The board convened an executive session to consider employment and complaint investigations and returned to open session to consider agenda item 7.1, a motion to rescind supplemental contracts for Ken Miller and Chad Dooney (as listed on the agenda). A roll-call vote recorded each voting member as “No” (Mrs. May; Mr. Hickey; Mr. Jeffrey; Mr. Hebert; Mrs. Wheeler), and the motion failed, which the clerk stated as “Supplemental contract is not rescinded.”

Board members scheduled a special meeting for July 28 at 4:30 p.m. to continue discussion of the public‑participation policy and to refine the exact executive‑session wording needed to address personnel matters. The board did not adopt new disciplinary findings or change employment status during the meeting record; the vote on rescinding supplemental contracts was the final formal action on the coaches at this session.

Why this matters: The dispute touches students’ opportunities (players and parents reported canceled practices and lost competitive chances), district process for handling parent complaints and coaching discipline, and the board’s use of executive session for personnel matters. Several speakers warned of longer-term consequences for volunteer coaches and program continuity if the district does not clarify policies and procedures.

What’s next: The board will meet July 28 to further address public-participation rules and executive‑session language; parents and advocates said they will continue to press for transparent findings and a fuller explanation from administration.