Ronan's coach hiring process moves on to second reading
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RONAN – Head coaches will have to reapply for their positions each year under a revised policy that last week was passed to a second reading by the Ronan School Board.
The board and public scrutinized the policy, which came under revision after the contentious rehiring of basketball coach Steve Woll in May. Woll was rehired after a confusing process where he was first told he was not being rehired for his position by school and athletics administrators, and then told to reapply for the position with other applicants.
Superintendent Andy Holmlund said the policy was revised to put the district in compliance with state law.
“Under a Montana legislature act of 1987, they made contracts for term, with no ongoing structure of acceptance or continuation,” Holmlund said “… All of our contracts meet that requirement as set forth, but the language that was existing was language that wasn’t cleaned up.”
Former coach and Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker worried the new policy might impact coach retention.
“We’ve had problems retaining coaches and now when you hire a new coach to come into the district, they come in with the knowledge that they have to reapply for that position every single year,” Decker said. “I think that would discourage good potential candidates from coming in and applying for a position.”
Administrators said the process is not that much different from what has traditionally been in place.
“Thirty years ago, when you were hired as a head coach here, you had to be rehired by the board,” Pablo Elementary School Principal and former Ronan Football Coach Frank Ciez said. “Now, you didn’t have to apply, but you had to come before the board.”
Holmlund said the board has the ability to keep the current hiring process language if it wants to.
“It can be as complex or as minimal as the board wants it to be,” Holmlund said.
Board Chairman Bob Cornwell said the method of renewal and nonrenewal of coaches was recently a major topic of discussion at a school board training session for trustees from across the state. He encouraged board members to research the issue before coming to the July board meeting.
“This is food for thought for everybody’s mind and we can research before we have another reading,” Cornwell said.
