Coach controversy centers on hiring process
Sunday, May 11, 2008
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 about the hiring process.
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?
Extras
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 job. "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, said Superintendent Steve Price.
"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 after three years to take the same position at Canton McKinley High School. Lebo found himself in search of a new head football coach.
After posting the job within the district and on the Internet, district officials began to involve community leaders, parents and boosters in the process, first through a March 13 community forum that allowed the public to express the qualities it wanted in the next football coach. Next, four small groups of people were formed to interview 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.
A total of 25 people participated in the four community groups, selected by Lebo, Newell and Price.
"Everyone that expressed an interest was involved," Lebo said. "They had to guarantee us they would be at every interview.
"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 desirable program'
An examination of the 50 applications revealed that the majority of applicants — 29 — were from Ohio.
Several out-of-state coaches expressed interest and five of the applicants — Ken Burress, Leroy Foster, Dedrick Howard, David Pool and Rick Rios — were 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.
Lebo said he communicated with everyone who applied, either by e-mail or phone. Both Lebo and Principal Dennis Newell reviewed all the resumes and whittled the list to 11 for the first round of interviews, which were conducted the first week of April.
"We looked at coaching experience, what the community forum wanted and the type of program each ran," Lebo said of how candidates were assessed.
Then there were five
Chip Abele, Krause, Joel Lauer, Mike Mauk and Pool were the five finalists brought back for interviews with 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 booster group and the parent group ranked Krause first, according to the evaluations obtained by The Journal. 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."
Bob Hart, a 1957 MHS graduate and member of the community group, said he favored Abele because he was "someone who understood the territory, who could bring the Middie spirit and who could relate to everyone, black, white or whatever." Hart said he had some problems with the process, but was most troubled by rumors that swirled early on about Krause having been promised the job prior to the interviews.
"I heard it from three or four sources that aren't connected to one another," Hart said. "I asked Price and he denied it."
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.
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 perceived as a bias in the district toward football and concerns that football comes before the classroom.
Tyus declined to discuss his "no" vote further, citing concerns about potential litigation.
"I've met with (Krause) this week," Tyus said. "I support the fact that he's the head football coach — end of the story for me."
But for some others, things are not so clear cut.
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 district for not hiring a minority coach.
Some blacks in the community strongly supported Pool, the lone black coaching finalist. Still others wondered if he was the best minority available and questioned why the district didn't pursue other qualified black candidates.
"I thought Pool was fine, but my sense was he was a throw-in just to say, 'We got one (a minority finalist)," Hart said. "I don't think he was ever viewed as a serious candidate by the three (Lebo, Newell and Price)."
In the classroom
Krause will fill the position of academic interventionist, vacated by Johnson. About three-fourths of what Krause will earn as a Middletown City Schools employee comes from his $60,000 salary, set by the district's negotiated agreement with the teachers' 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," Price said. "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.Krause is licensed to teach first through eighth grade and held temporary licenses 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.
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.
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.
"He's been around diversity, but he hasn't really experienced the kind of diversity he will be dealing with in Middletown," Hart said.
Price said the district has confidence Krause can work with all different groups of students.
In the end
At the end of all the interviewing on April 12, Lebo and Newell reviewed the ranking sheets turned in by the committees — each coach was ranked 1 to 5 with 1 being the best. By ranking first in two groups, third in one and fourth in another, Krause 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.
"We were unanimous on Krause being the best person for the job," Lebo said of himself, Newell and Price. "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 of the hiring process. "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
.
C
ontact Megan Gildow at (513) 705-2805 or mgildow@coxohio.com
.
