The Pine-Richland School Board held a special virtual meeting Friday afternoon, following the controversial ouster of beloved football coach Eric Kasperowicz earlier this week.
As expected, one school board member resigned, however, no reason was given for the resignation.
Solicitor Don Palmer began the meeting with a reminder that the district has a policy of never discussing personnel matters in public.
"Many comments are being shared in traditional and social media. It is understood that this is frustrating to some and confusing to others. With that said, our legal advise has remained the same in this case and others over the years: the district should not discuss personnel matters in public," said Palmer. "Since it is the district's well-grounded practice to refrain from comment on personnel matters in public, it is not appropriate for them to respond. As such, the district will also refrain from correcting false statements and allegations being made," said Palmer.
The school board then proceeded to take public comment from community members, all of whom spoke out against the firing of the coaching staff.
The district sent an email addressed to Pine-Richland staff, families and community regarding the special session of the school board that included Palmer's comments.
It also read "The district has posted the supplemental contract position for varsity head football coach. The district will be accepting internal and external applications. Supplemental contracts are designated for one school year without expections for renewal. Following its regular process for coaching positions, assistant coach opositions are also opened when a varsity head coach position is advertised. This allows the new varsity coach to interview and/or recommend new staff members and also consider prior assistant coaches if appropriate."
A petition now circulating in the district to have Coach Kasperowicz reinstated to his position is up to five-thousand signatures.
Kasperowicz and his coaching staff, including Dr. Jochem, were notified via email Wednesday that their contracts were not being renewed.
