Loyal parents express concerns about athletics at school board meeting
It was standing room only in the Loyal School Board’s most recent regular meeting, with 27 members of the public and school staff members in attendance. Seven individuals spoke during public comment, with all their comments relating to the school’s athletic programs in one way or another. The parents’ attendance was at least partially spurred by the agenda item, “Approve: spring/ fall/winter sports coaches,” as some parents didn’t want current coaches to be re-approved for next season.
Three individuals voiced their concerns about the football program at the April 24 meeting. District Administrator Chris Lindner is the head football coach and Middle/High School Principal Doug Dieckman is one of the assistant coaches.
Tara Scheel, the parent of two Loyal alumni and one current student, felt that school administrators should focus their time on school operations rather than also trying to lead the football program.
“Now more than ever, the administration needs to put all focus and attention on operating our school. We just had a referendum pass, but not by much (105 votes). Being involved in many extracurricular activities takes away from that responsibility. Coaching football takes a lot of time and dedication from June to the end of October or November. We have many other high-quality candidates that are interested in this position for the 2024 season, so I feel like it is now time to implement them for the ’23 season,” said Scheel. “The current individual has 25-plus years coaching football, with no state record and a few playoffs. It’s not because we didn’t have the aptitude of players. When I hear our son and some other players say they do not want to go out for football this year if there’s not some changes made, it breaks my heart.
“Our son’s passion has always been football. He’s played football since third grade. Let’s be honest. These last few years have been very heartbreaking to say the least — from the morale of the cheering section, to the parents, the team and the coaches. To me, I didn’t see a team. I saw a group of dedicated and hardworking kids trying to ask more plays, but was told, ‘When you learn my ways, I will teach you more.’” Scheel alleged that the current coach was only there “for maybe half the practice” and would try to change the plays from what the assistant coaches had already planned. She also said the current coach would shout at the players to take out his frustration.
“I know football’s supposed to be a tough sport, but my child came home from practice every day mentally drained and so irritated. He was not the child we would see before and after football season and to me, that is sad. If these players are not having fun, learning and constantly being beaten down by another team, soon there won’t be a team. Every year the number of players dwindles,” she said.
With the Loyal and Greenwood JV and varsity football programs combining in 2024, Scheel asked that the board still take this season seriously and consider making a change in coaching for the good of the players. She also
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said that since school board members serve three-year terms and have to be re-elected, why not coaches?
Sue Roehl was another parent to express her concerns. “I’m not normally the vocal one in my family, but I am concerned as to why the fall and winter coaches are being voted on tonight. Did I miss the posting? Leading up to the referendum, we were told there was going to be more transparency in our school. But it seems like it’s just business as usual. These past few years I’ve been hearing kids say they will not be going out for their sport if coaching methods do not change. They are not having fun. Playing time should be about their ability and not who they are related to or how they played in third grade,” said Roehl.
“In the past 20 years, how many times have we gone to state? To my knowledge, not too many. Was that all due to the talent we had or was it the coaching methods, or both? Obviously the status quo is not working. We need to shake things up and open it up for others to bring in new ideas and techniques. Let’s consider making some changes and improving the morale of our students, but not next year or the year after, but right now. I think it would be beneficial for our student-athletes. A wise man once said, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ Let’s make a difference for our kids.”
Loyal alumnus Jared Loos also spoke. He played football throughout school, and echoed the other comments.
“The guy is a phenomenal guy, but we need change and we need change now, for the simple fact we can’t keep doing the same thing over and over. We need to bring the kids back into it; I went through the schooling years of where I had kids that wouldn’t even go out for the sport. I’ve had other people tell me the same thing… The thing I want to do here is put fun back into the game, because right now the kids are getting their asses beat. They’re out-coached, out-gunned, and we need change in order to start winning again. You know, how many years it’s been going this way, I don’t want to see it continue to go that way.”
He said that while coaching youth football, he saw kids consistently win games, but when they get to the older levels, they stop winning and he asked why that was.
“Basically I wanna see some change and I want to see it for the good. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the guys that are there now as people. The other problem is these kids don’t have anyone to go to when their coach is the administrator and the principal. They need to have somebody to talk to,” he said.
Lindner and district co-athletic director Scott Schiller declined to comment on what was said at the meeting.
Another issue brought up was the decision to make the Wolves the mascot for combined Loyal-Greenwood teams. Scheel asked why it was just recently decided when there have been co-op wrestling and softball teams for years. Loos questioned what the process was for choosing the mascot.
The mascot discussion came about as, over the past year, the two districts have increasingly focused on collaboration and how to better share programs and resources. Earlier this year, students came up with ideas for the mascot and then the top three ideas were voted on by the middle and high school students in both school districts.
Youth baseball Another concern brought to the board had to do with the youth baseball program. Brian Duell has coached youth baseball for seven years and felt there was a lack of support for the program from the school district.
“I understand that the summer rec. position has been open for several years. Loyal doesn’t have a summer rec. position. The youth baseball falls under the summer rec. program, which leaves us with a vacant spot to help organize any of the youth baseball activities for third through sixth grade. With that, I’ve had many discussions with staff on it and it comes down to, it’s not part of the school. It’s not a school function,” said Duell. “When we question the availability to try to arrange practice or whatever it may be, it comes down to, well, it’s not really a school function.”
Student registration fees go into the school district’s Community Service Fund, which is used to fund the program. Duell felt that since the school district was managing the funds and making the decision on how the funds are spent, the youth baseball program should be considered a school function. He also said the youth coaches were not made aware of the mascot decision.
“The problem now is, it’s a co-op. So this is the parents’ first go-around in experiencing a co-op, and it’s not positive. It hasn’t turned out to be a positive experience for players, coaches or parents. Because we have no answers and we’re left on our own,” said Duell. “All administrative decisions are made at the school level, and we’re left with transportation, practice, figure out how to get the field drug and lined, bathrooms open, coaches and all that stuff is left up to the coaches. So I think it needs to be brought into a school function, part of the summer rec. program, or an early summer rec. program or whatever it may end up being.”
Board transparency A common thread running through the comments was the perceived need for more open communication from the school district. Per school board policy, board members are not supposed to immediately respond to comments made during the public comment portion of the meeting. Kim Bremmer, who just wrapped up her term on the school board after losing the April 4 election to Derek Weyer, spoke during public comment and addressed that issue.
“I’m happy our referendum passed for the future of our kids and our community, but this is no time to celebrate. Passing by 105 votes is a signal that substantial improvements in the relationship between our school, our community, our parents and our taxpayers needs to be a much bigger priority. Clearly trust, collaboration (and) transparency are what people are asking for. I think we hear that tonight. I challenge the board to consider how it uses Statute 19.85 regarding open meeting laws. This statute gives boards the authority to have closed-session meetings, but it’s not a requirement,” Bremmer said.
She advised the board to not get into the habit of moving items into closed session when they should be in open session. Wisconsin Statute 19.85 limits the items that can be discussed in closed session to employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee; deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties; and a few other select items.
“I always try to focus on solutions, so I ask the board to consider better utilizing the committees and actually holding committee meetings, as all committee meetings are open to the public,” Bremmer continued. “I think this would be a great time for better engagement and dialogue. Because unfortunately this isn’t the best place; obviously there’s no dialogue between the people and the board. So maybe utilizing our committee meetings might be more helpful. I think a lot of our concerns heard tonight could have maybe been addressed better and there would have been dialogue with the public if it was an athletics committee meeting. That might be a better place.”
When the board got to the “Approve: spring/fall/ winter sports coaches” item on the agenda, the board opted to approve Julia Hubbard as the JV softball coach and Paul Kayhart as the JV baseball coach. Hubbard and Kayhart had started assisting the teams prior to the board’s approval.
Lindner made the recommendation to table approving fall and winter coaches. He also explained the process for hiring coaches. All vacant contracted positions are publicly posted, include coaching positions. The position is first posted internally in the school district and if no one expresses interest, it’s posted externally. If there is more than one applicant, the head coach and athletic directors will interview the applicants and determine who gets the position.
“I think the question probably on everybody’s mind right now is which positions are going to be posted? Are we putting any head coaches out there, or assistant coaches? Or what is the plan here?” board member Dennis Roehl asked.
“I would say that is a personnel issue and my recommendation is, discuss it in closed and then put it out on what you’re going to do, what the board decides after that,” said Lindner.
Weyer made a motion, seconded by Carrie Becker, to table the approval of fall and winter coaches. That was unanimously approved.
So far, the board has posted the following positions for the fall: high school volleyball assistant coach, middle school volleyball coach and middle school cross country coach. The board also posted the summer rec. program director opening.
Coach evaluation process The TRG reached out to Schiller to have him shed some light on how the district evaluates sports coaches.
“The head coach is informally evaluated throughout the season (and year). At the end of each season, the head coach prepares an end-of-season report that contains participants, letter-winners, awards, statistics, inventory of equipment, evaluation of assistant coaches (and) strengths and weaknesses of the program, as well as a self-evaluation. The athletic director and coach meet to discuss this information and provide feedback on the season/program. The self-evaluation is reviewed and if needed, specific points are addressed as points of emphasis for the following year,” Schiller wrote in an email. “Loyal is very fortunate to have coaches who are passionate, knowledgeable, and dedicated!”
The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for May 24 at 7 p.m. in the district conference room.
