The Whitefish School Board’s decision to not hire an assistant track coach last month caused community members to question the transparency of the district’s hiring process.  

At a March 17 school board business meeting, a recommendation to hire Addy Connelly to be a high school assistant track and field coach was turned down by the board. The decision was unanimous and no comments were made.  

The recommendation for hire was given by the head track coaches, athletic director, high school assistant principal and superintendent. 

The district then opted to not fill the position for the remainder of the track season – a decision that has since been reversed following backlash.  

In a Pilot article the week after the March 17 meeting, head coaches Willie Roche and Matt Beckwith expressed frustration with being down a coach, citing safety concerns and less attention for the athletes amongst a season already facing adversity, with no access to a track due to construction.  

At the next school board meeting, on April 14, it was standing room only as Roche, Beckwith, four other coaches, teachers, student-athletes and community members raised concerns with the decision. Several expressed support for Connelly, who teaches in two schools and is a well-liked and highly respected head volleyball coach.  

“What happened in the March 17 board meeting was, in one word, wrong,” Roche said. “With no discussion, no explanation and zero transparency, the board chose to override the collective judgment of every admin and coach involved in the process.  

“It sends a clear message that the people hired to make these decisions, myself included, are wrong and untrustworthy of making that decision, which is incredibly disappointing.” 

Megan Zonich, volunteer track coach, said that as the only female coach, she now has the responsibility of overseeing over 60 girls in the locker room and on the bus.  

“It is negligent to have a size of our track team – over 110 students – and not have a female on staff,” Zonich said. 

Senior Sol Holmquist echoed Zonich.  

“It is vital for young women to have a strong female role model,” Holmquist said.  

“Our football team has 12 coaches for only 70 athletes,” she added.  

Head football coach Brett Bollweg said that amongst an increasingly challenging job, instead of feeling support and gratitude, the decision to not hire Connelly left coaches anxious, uncertain and confused.  

He said he saw a similar decision happen in the baseball program, which is now also understaffed. 

WEA Union President Adrienne Odell shared more sweeping concerns with hiring processes.  

“Bulk teacher contract renewals being dissected to line items rather than following administrative recommendations, specifically targets untenured positions and appendix B positions,” Odell said. “This potential action by the trustees increases the likelihood of increased destabilization and undermines the working relationship between teachers and administrators.”  

Odell made several requests of the board, including that the human resources director communicate directly with candidates of hire, that the denial of any position should result in an explanation and suggestions for improvement, and that a work session be scheduled soon.  

Further accusations from the public suggested that the board’s decision was predetermined. Paul McDermott alleged that conversations were taking place outside of public board meetings. 

Bollweg and fellow football coach Chad Ross questioned a forthcoming item on the board’s agenda for the night: a discussion to add a policy directly describing the situation that led to the board’s decision to not hire Connelly. The coaches described it as a retroactive move.  

Although by law the board cannot address public comments directly during a board meeting, the trustees’ discussion of the possible policy addition later gave insight into their decision.  

Trustees discussed the possibility of adding the following policy to hiring procedures:  

“For an internal candidate to be eligible for hire for an additional or new extracurricular position, that candidate must not have received a letter of reprimand in any of the past X number of school years.” 

Board Chair Elizabeth Pitman said that the procedure regarding letters of reprimand is not new but doesn’t exist in writing.  

The number of years for a probationary period in this instance is therefore also not specified.  

Montana is one of few states in which school boards are in charge of hiring and firing, Trustee Darcy Schellinger said.  

“Having to take recommendations, and not know, not be part of the interviews, that’s a vulnerable position and it’s one of the hardest things we do,” she said.  

Schellinger said that this a painful situation, but that they don’t take reprimands lightly, and giving clarity moving forward is the kind thing to do.   

For reference, the average number of reprimands each year across all district staff is 2.4, Pitman said. 

“This [policy] was brought forward to add transparency and clarity to the processes that we go through,” Pitman said. “I want to have clarity in what this looks like moving forward... our board in general feels like we need direction with this.” 

Pitman also alluded to the difficulty of the situation. She explained that they must treat everyone the same, regardless of the nature of the reprimand. She gave an example of a student at a party doing nothing wrong, that still gets in trouble if their fellow partygoers do too.  

“It is very hard to make decisions about this, because some people have information that other people don’t have, and you can’t get into it because of student and staff privacy rights,” said Trustee Katie Clarke. “And in some cases, people have the same information but might judge it differently. And that’s where, as a board, it’s a personal call as to what’s best for students. And that’s where we're each coming from.”  

The policy addition is not an action item and remains open for discussion. It was suggested to have a work session on the item in the future, which will enable the public to engage. 

Late last week, Superintendent Dave Means provided a statement in response to the April 14 meeting.  

“Whitefish School District prides itself on providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students. We are making an exception to our normal practice of not responding to public comments made at Board meetings. This response is necessary due to recent inaccurate comments concerning student safety and extracurricular activities,” the statement read.  

According to the statement, “the district prioritizes student safety and will continue to provide appropriate supervision.” 

The human resources director has since discussed staffing with coaches and administration again, the statement says. The position has consequently been re-opened for hire this season and is anticipated to be filled soon.

Editor Kelsey Evans can be reached at 406-862-3505 [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.

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