Charlo football head coach announces resignation
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CHARLO — Charlo football head coach Steve Love announced his resignation at the Feb. 15 Charlo School Board meeting. The announcement was met with great disappointment from the school board, staff and Superintendent Paul Jenkins.
“I found Steve to be passionate, structured and dedicated,” Jenkins said. “He cared deeply about his athletes. I never saw him flustered during a game.”
“I believe as a coach and an educator, Steve also taught his team some life lessons,” Jenkins added.
Other members of the school board and staff present expressed similar sentiments about the resignation of Love after six years as head football coach.
School board member Shannon Murphy initiated a discussion concerning parents’ behaviors during sporting events and towards the coaches and their families.
“We’ve lost the cleanness of the sport that we used to have,” Clair Rasmussen added.
The school board examined the issue in great lengths, discussing measures needed to combat the problem. Jenkins suggested that in order to curb the negativity towards coaches, a letter could be sent to parents that are making abusive comments during games, inviting them to the district office to discuss any problems or issues.
“The number one thing we want to do is to respond rationally,” Jenkins said. “(We could) write the family and invite them in to talk about it.”
After asking Love if he really wanted to resign, the school board voted unanimously to accept his resignation.
The position of head football coach will be listed locally and available first to staff members at Charlo School.
In other business, the school board also unanimously approved entering into a one-year contract with Altacare.
Altacare is a therapy service that is provided to students on school grounds for no charge to the school, but charges the individual insurances of the student, including CHIP and Medicaid. The school must provide the therapist with a para-professional, space for counseling sessions, computer and supplies. Altacare will provide the school with a master’s level or licensed therapist, who will meet with children during school hours and on school property.
“I’m a big believer and research will show it too, that early intervention can make a big difference,” Jenkins said.
According to Jenkins the therapist will provide the students with individual therapy, group therapy, behavior intervention, family therapy and crisis plans.
Presently the service is utilized by 97 schools across Montana.
The school board also noted that the toilets in the new multi-purpose building are not flushing correctly due to an absence of water pressure. The school board discussed installing new water tanks in order to rectify the issue and has accepted one bid for the project. The board is waiting for two more bids.
The building committee met Feb. 10 and discussed the final details of the building with former construction manager Chris Cheff.
They also noted that the contract with Cheff has ended.
The school board said that there has been progress with the classified staff negotiations and the negotiation committee.
“The atmosphere was much more positive this time,” Charlo school board member, Dianna Kelley said.
The next school board meeting will be held on March 16 at 7 p.m. in the Charlo school library.
