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Coach
approach
dominates
board
meeting
by Gerald Ochs
Rappahannock News Special Writer
The RCHS Library was filled to capacity and Tuesday’s School Board meeting was dominated by the emerging issue of athletic coach hiring practices. The published agenda included an innocent line in the Report of the Superintendent section: “Athletic Vision & Hiring Guidelines,” but students, teachers, coaches, and parents apparently felt that the issue was other than innocent and came to the meeting to express and lobby for their views, believing that the School Board would make a decision changing the way coaches are selected.
To the present time, according to Superintendent Dr. David Gangel, coaching positions have been filled by the RCHS athletic director and the RCHS administration in concert with Virginia High School League guidelines that promote the hiring of coaches from an internal pool of candidates, an approach that “is rooted in the philosophical notion that athletics is an extension of the academic program. Values can be taught and relationships can be developed to support the academic experience.”
The impetus that led the Superintendent to bring the issue before the School Board was “a number of coaching hiring issues” and an apparent plea by some parents to seek more qualified coaches to benefit the athletic development of their children and the schools’ athletic programs. Dr. Gangel proposed establishment of a committee to review the “athletic vision” and hiring practices, and to develop “a draft athletic contract with specific responsibilities.”
See SCHOOL, Page A8
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