Board looks at vacant positions

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The Ironton Board of Education will meet in special session Tuesday to consider filling employment vacancies.

The board has several vacancies to fill in the near future since a number of athletic coaches have indicated they would not return for the coming school year.

Perhaps at the top of that list is head football coach Bob Lutz, who announced he would not extend his 30-plus-year career with the Fighting Tigers beyond the 2005-06 season.

Email newsletter signup

Board member Jerry Rowe said he had not seen the list of positions that will be discussed at Tuesday’s special meeting but finding a replacement for Lutz is “a possibility.”

Rowe said approximately 12 people have applied to be head football coach, a number that disappoints him.

“I would have expected a lot more than that but by it being so late, it’s early summer now, a lot of programs are already starting up around the state. It’s really too late for people on the outside (to consider it).”

The exodus of coaches has led to public outcry in the last month. After Lutz indicated he would not return, other coaches, including girls’ head basketball coach Amy Hughes, announced they would also not return after handing in their required supplemental contracts resignation at the end of the school year.

Sports program supporters packed a special board meeting late last month, many of them wearing orange and black “Keep our coaches” T-shirts.

Many said they had planned to address the board about their concerns with the high school’s athletics program, only to be told they could not air gripes about school employees unless they “went through proper channels” that included talking first to the employee and then to the employee’s principal.

An attorney stood at the front of the room with the microphone to monitor public comments. Some have pointed the finger at Athletic Director Terry Parker and have asked that he be fired or removed from his supplemental sports position.

Parker has denied having problems with Lutz and has said he is not a factor in the coaches’ departures.

The special meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the administration building. The board will also meet in regular session at 6 p.m. Thursday at the administration building.