News Summary

MIDDLETOWN — On April 28, Jason Krause was hired as the 19th head football coach in Middletown High School history.

Since then, concerns have been raised by some people in town about how the hiring process was conducted.

Was Krause hand-picked by the superintendent, high school principal and athletic director?

Why wasn't a minority candidate hired?

Was the process fair or did someone guarantee Krause the job before the interviews even started?

Will the same hiring process be used again in the future?

Athletic Director Gary Lebo said the process never deviated from what was laid out in the beginning, and that the best coach was hired for the position.

"I think the process went exactly as we planned," Lebo said. "We followed the process to a 'T' and I'm extremely pleased with how things worked out."

The hiring process, which included input from community members, was modeled after the one used to bring in Middies basketball coach Bob Ronai, with some modifications, said Superintendent Steve Price.

"From my view the process worked," Price said. "(The community groups) selected and nominated what they felt overall was the best candidate."

Price said the district will review the process and make any necessary adjustments in the future.

"If somebody wants to criticize the process, I invite them to come and help me make the process better next time," he said.

In the beginning

On Feb. 25, then Middie football coach Ron Johnson announced he was leaving Middletown after three years to take the same position at Canton McKinley High School.

For the third time in his four years as athletic director, Lebo found himself in search of a new football coach.

The job was posted within the district first, then advertised on various Web sites.

District officials then began to involve community leaders, parents and boosters in the process. First, they hosted a March 13 community forum that allowed the public to express the qualities it wanted in the next football coach, and then formed four small committees to interview the five coaching finalists.

The forum, facilitated by The Flagg Group, a private consulting firm hired by the school district for $1,027.70, brought together more than 50 community members who listed leadership, a winning program, knowledge and development — both athletic and academic — as major qualities they wanted to see in the next coach.

Lebo and Middletown High School Principal Dennis Newell then contacted various individuals from the community about being part of the interview process. Four small groups to consist of not more than seven people each were formed with the idea of interviewing the top candidates.

Middletown is one of the few districts in the area that involves the community to such a degree in the hiring process.

"We just feel it is important to hear what type of coach the community wants," Lebo said.

A total of 25 people participated in the four community groups. Lebo said he, Newell and Price selected everyone who participated.

"Everyone that expressed an interest was involved," Lebo said. "We didn't get seven people on each committee, but that's a time commitment for these people. They had to guarantee us they would be at every interview."

An examination of the potential list of participants — which included names such as the Rev. Michael Bailey, Chamber of Commerce President Bill Triick, City Law Director Les Landen, former team chaplain Bishop Rudolph Pringle, former school board member Mark Frazer, Ann Mort and Lynn Darbyshire — shows there were some who may have been contacted that were either not interested in being part of the process, or could not commit to the schedule.

Lebo held a meeting for those who were going to participate to go over the process.

"We told everyone that if they cannot agree with the process or be here for all the dates, then that was the time to step down," Lebo said. "No one did. That tells me that they all agreed with the process."

'A high profile, desirable football program'

A brief examination of the 50 applications and/or resumes received for the coaching position reveals that the majority of applicants —29 — were from Ohio.

Several out-of-state coaches expressed an interest and approximately five of the applicants — Ken Burress, Leroy Foster, Dedrick Howard, David Pool and Rick Rios — are minorities.

"Middletown is still viewed as a high profile, desirable football program and so we had a lot of quality applications that came in," Price said. "I feel really good about the quality of the folks that we got to talk to."

Lebo said he communicated with everyone who applied, either by e-mail or phone. Both Lebo and Newell reviewed all the resumes and whittled the list of 50 down to 11 for the first round of interviews, which were conducted the first week of April.

"We looked at a variety of things," Lebo said of how he and Newell analyzed the 11 candidates they interviewed. "We looked at coaching experience, what the community forum wanted and the type of program each ran.

"We felt we needed someone with head coaching experience, and we felt the five we brought back were the five best."

And then there were five

Chip Abele, Krause, Joel Lauer, Mike Mauk and Pool were the five finalists brought back to be interviewed by the community groups.

By inviting people from different sectors of the community — boosters, coaches, parents and community members — "You get a more diverse population and you get several different angles to each candidate," said Anna Pruett, who was on the athletic booster committee.

"The candidates seemed to enjoy it and I thought it was a very fair way to handle it," she said.

The booster group and the parent group ranked Krause first, according to the group evaluations. The coaches/staff group ranked him fourth and the community group ranked him third.

Pruett described him as the "real deal ... the whole package."

"He was the most enthusiastic," she said. "He came in educated, he knew our kids' names ... he had done his homework and he was ready to go."

Abele, who is a Middie alumnus, was the only one of the five without head coaching experience, but he has been an assistant coach at Division I Hilliard Davidson for nine years.

"With his experience at Davidson with winning a state title and being a Middletown alum, we felt he had the potential to be a good coach for the Middies," Lebo said.

Tim Parks was on the community group, which ranked Abele as its No. 1 candidate.

"I know the people in my group had great questions (for the candidates)," Parks said. "We had an open and candid discussion about them and we were all happy with the ranking order we came up with.

"I think Mr. Krause was the right candidate, so now I think all the different groups need to get behind him and give him the support he needs."

A point of dissension

When Middletown board members voted on the resolutions that included Krause's teaching and activity supervisor contracts, the board split on both items.

At the time the dissenting board members, President Greg Tyus and Vice President Katie McNeil, declined to comment. Both board members voted against the athletic agenda that contained Krause's supplemental contracts and a differential pay for a softball assistant coach. Tyus also voted against the personnel agenda that contained many items for the next school year, including Krause's teaching contract, but he wouldn't specify why he had voted against the recommendation.

In a letter to the editor that is slated to publish on Tuesday, May 13, McNeil said her "no" vote stemmed from "growing frustration" over what she perceives as a bias in the district toward football and concerns that football comes before the classroom.

"My vote was a signal of my growing frustration that we as a district are not where I think we should be in terms of being open to the community in showing the real costs of what it takes to bring a football coach to this district (or any other experienced coach) and how we continue to promote one extracurricular program to the detriment and development of the others," she said.

Tyus declined to discuss his "no" vote further on Friday.

"I had issues with some items on the personnel agenda," he said, adding that he wouldn't discuss personnel issues because of potential litigation.

"I've met with (Krause) this week," he said. "I support the fact that he's the head football coach, end of the story for me."

Parent Tim Pruett, whose wife, Anna, was on a committee, said he was disappointed the board had voted 3-2 because of the work that the community members and district employees put into the process.

"When the superintendent brings the recommendation to the school board and there's a 3-2 split it just doesn't look good for the new coach coming in," he said.

Pruett said he had met Krause at the Pigskin Roundball Spectacular Wednesday night and noted that he seemed "enthusiastic" and was already sporting a purple tie.

Bishop Rudolph Pringle, who had been the football team chaplain for more than 20 years, resigned after Krause was announced as the new coach.

In a letter he submitted to The Journal, Pringle stated his displeasure with the school district for not hiring a minority coach.

"Middletown High School has a long and rich history of excellence in Ohio yet during this time has never once hired an African-American to the position of head football coach.

"After carefully weighing the decision that you have made (April 28) not to pick an African-American football coach sends a red flag that this system has no desire to triumph over racial bigotry and the fears. To do what is right and honorable requires that you go outside of the box of safety and travel a different road. You refused!"

In the classroom

Following Krause's approval, board member Chris Fiora pointed out that the majority of the cost of a new football coach is focused on the classroom and not athletics.

"If you look at what we voted on, the majority of that was for the classroom," he said.

Krause will fill the position of academic interventionist, vacated by Johnson.

About three-fourths of what Krause will earn as a Middletown City School's employee comes from his $60,000 salary, set by the district's negotiated agreement with the teacher's union. Krause also will earn about $20,000 for two supplemental contracts — $6,699 as head football coach and $13,428 as weight training coordinator for all MHS sports.

Intervention specialists are teachers who help MHS students struggling with the Ohio Graduation Test, Price said.

"My interview with him was less Xs and Os," he sad. "I talked to Jason to find out what kind of person he was. Jason really convinced me that he's interested in the overall success of the child not just on the football field but in life."

Krause will work with students who are struggling with the areas on the OGT: reading, writing, math, science and social studies.

"Jason has those skills to be able to build those positive relationships and to motivate young adults and we feel that will serve him well with some of these kids, especially some of these kids that are looking for a support system," Price said.

Krause is licensed to teach first through eighth grades and has held temporary licenses in the past to be an assistant principal while he was at Stebbins High School, according to the Ohio Department of Education. At Lockland and Monroe, he taught middle school and junior high school math, science, reading and language arts.

He holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a master's degree in educational leadership, both from the University of Dayton.

Suburban to urban

Some residents have raised concerns that Krause's experiences, predominately in suburban districts, haven't prepared him for the intricacies of an urban school district, which tend to have more minority and economically disadvantaged students than suburban and rural schools.

"We have all the confidence in the world that Jason's going to be a good teacher for whatever group of kids he works with," Price said.

At 46.3 percent in 2006-07, Middletown High School's percentage of economically disadvantaged students is higher than Krause's previous schools. Fewer than 15 percent of Monroe High School students are economically disadvantaged. During Krause's tenure, 36.2 percent and 27.8 percent of students, at Stebbins and Lockland high schools respectively, were considered economically disadvantaged, according to the ODE.

About 25 percent of Middletown High School students are minorities, compared to 6.2 percent at Monroe High School, 15 percent at Stebbins and 24 percent at Lockland, during Krause's time with each school, according to the ODE.

Middletown High School is larger than Lockland, Stebbins or Monroe while Krause was there, according to enrollment figures from the state education department.

In the end

At the end of all the interviews, Lebo and Newell reviewed the ranking sheets — each coach was ranked 1 to 5 with 1 being the best — filled out by the community groups, and one thing was clear — Krause was the top choice. By ranking first in two groups, third in one and fourth in another, he totaled nine points, the best score of the five.

Abele and Pool each had 11 points, followed by Mauk at 14 and Lauer with 15.

The community groups completed their interviews on April 12. Early the next week, Lebo and Newell reviewed the ranking sheets completed by the groups and concluded that Krause was the best choice.

"After going over those rankings, Mr. Newell and I submitted our recommendation to Mr. Price," Lebo said. "We were unanimous on Krause being the best person for the job. We know what he's done at Monroe with character development and the educating of his players. Going through the interview process, it's pretty clear the community groups felt the same way."

Krause now faces the challenge of returning the Middies to a playoff-caliber program, as well as overcoming the controversy of his selection.

"My concern is to keep the kids focused," Krause said. "I'm going to push them to be better people.

"I wish it wasn't an issue," he said. "If there is a way I can help that, I'd be willing to do that. Winning heals a lot, but not everything. We're here for more than winning games."

Contact Skip Weaver at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.

Contact Megan Gildow at (513) 705-2805 or mgildow@coxohio.com.

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