CHAMPION School board hears parents' complaints

The parents said the girls basketball coach damaged team morale.
By MARY LEE THORNDIKE
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CHAMPION -- The school board listened to parents complain about cheerleading tryouts and the high school girls basketball coach.
The result at Monday's board meeting was that the coach would stay and evaluation of the cheerleaders would stand.
District resident Lisa Haines gave the board a written statement regarding her daughter's treatment at a recent cheerleading tryout and made suggestions to avoid future misunderstandings.
Board president Linda Ashelman said the board would look at the statement and "pass it on to the appropriate people."
When her daughter tried out for cheerleading and wasn't accepted, Mrs. Haines went to Tom Harrison, high school principal, to ask for an explanation.
Harrison told her that her daughter's teacher rating sheet showed low scores and no teacher recommendations. Mrs. Haines pointed out, however, that her daughter had been cheerleading for three years, had professional training, and had received honors for cheerleading. Even the cheerleading adviser wanted her on the team, Mrs. Haines said.
She added that her daughter tried out at Warren John F. Kennedy High School as a cheerleader and was put on the team, one of five chosen out of 12. When Mrs. Haines asked to see the rating sheet, she said she was told the school has a policy of not letting parents see them. She said she was then referred to Superntendent Pam Hood and then to the board.
Mrs. Haines noted that the athletic rules book says that the only time teacher rating sheets are used is to break a tie. She asked the board to tell her where the policy is written that parents can't view their student's teacher rating sheets and records. Ashelman told her that the athletic book had been revised in 1997 and it didn't permit a review. She added that the rating sheets are destroyed after the tryouts and are unavailable.
Coach: Parent Brian Kochunas was spokesman for nine out of the 10 players on the girls basketball team and their parents.
He asked that the board not renew coach Jeff Thompson's contract or table the matter until the board could talk to the girls about how the coach treats them.
Kochunas said the coach yanks the girls out individually and publicly chastises and humiliates them. Four girl have quit the team, he said.
The board, however, renewed Thompson's contract without talking with the girls. Ashelman said the board had talked to several people about the matter and was told that they liked the coach and thought he did a good job.
Beverly Hoagland, elementary school principal, told the board the school has registered 106 kindergartners for the 2001-02 next year, up from about 90 this school year.