It was standing room only at Eastern Greene’s Elementary School Gymnasium for the district’s school board meeting Monday night.
Many students, parents, and community members were present to voice their opposition to board president Daune Long’s decision to advise the district’s superintendent not to renew contracts for high school football coach Travis Wray and athletic director Aaron Buskirk.
It's unclear whether Long was prohibited from making such a request to the district’s Superintendent Ted Baechtold.
The board narrowly approved the decision not to renew the two contracts in a vote of 4-3.
Long, the board’s attorney and two other members who voted in favor of passing the measures refused to comment citing a pending legal matter.
Parents say they’re upset over the lack of transparency and say the vote will not silence them. Parent Heather Hudson says she’s worried about the message this sends throughout the district.
"I just really wish that the school board would put away their personal agendas and do what is in the best interest of all the students," she says. "Absolutely not, we were cut off on our comments. We were not able to voice our perspectives. We were not heard. The community was not heard."
The next school board meeting is scheduled for March 18.
Editorial Note: Scott Carmichael, an employee for Indiana University’s Radio and Television Services—the parent organization for WTIU/WFIU, is a voting member of the school board.
