A group of concerned parents in the Wellston School District attended Monday night’s board meeting, expressing concern over the hiring of a coach who is also an elementary counselor.
Chad Hutchison was recently hired as the girl’s high school basketball coach and as an elementary school counselor.
School Supt. Mike Franz confirmed on Tuesday the board voted 3-1 in favor of hiring Hutchison in July with one of the five board members absent the evening he was hired.
Brittney Morgan, who said her daughter is going into elementary school this year, is one of a group she calls “concerned parents” who attended Monday night’s board meeting.
Morgan acknowledged she didn’t address the board during the Public Comment portion of the meeting, but four of those concerned parents did speak, she said.
She estimated about 100 persons attended the regular school board meeting Monday night. She claimed eight, including Hutchison himself, his wife and oldest daughter spoke in his favor.
Morgan said of the other five who spoke in favor of Hutchison being hired, only one was from the Wellston school district.
She characterized their comments as “pretty much talking about what a good coach he was.”
She estimated that about 15 of those in attendance were there to support Hutchison’s hiring and the remainder were there to express their concerns.
Franz said the board meeting began in the board room but was moved to the cafeteria and he confirmed the 100 in attendance was a good estimate.
Hutchison, who has previously coached at several other school districts, was fired in November of 2009 by the Thomas-Fay-Custer School District’s Board of Education on grounds of moral turpitude.
Hutchison appealed his termination in federal district court and on May 27, 2010, U.S. District Judge David Russell upheld the board’s termination of him.
Franz, who said that at Monday night’s meeting he nor the board members responded to any of the comments aired during the Public Comment section, issued a statement on Tuesday.
“When the District hires a new employee such as Mr. Hutchison as a teacher, it performs state required background checks and ensures that the new employee is certified by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. The District also contacts references and reviews the candidate’s credentials. Mr. Hutchison’s background check showed no reason for him not to be hired and his Oklahoma Educator Certificate is valid in seven different areas including administration.
“Additionally, Franz continued, “and as reported in the Daily Oklahoman on April 9, 2022, Mr. Hutchison was chosen by the Oklahoma Coaches Association to be the 2022 All-State girls basketball coach for the Small West team. Based on the favorable information we were able to gather, we believe that Mr. Hutchison will be an asset to the District and its students. We are pleased that he decided to seek employment with the District.”
Morgan said one of the four who spoke about Hutchison being hired in light of his being terminated several years ago presented a lot of the facts brought out in the court case the board used to defend its termination of Hutchison.
She indicated the group was questioning why Hutchison was hired by the Wellston board. They further aired their concerns, she said, of “Why is he good enough for our school, for our students?”