By: Jacob Kessler
The Swanton Board of Education held their meeting on Wednesday, November 17th at 6:30 p.m. The meeting was called to order followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call.
The board first moved to approve the agenda for the current meeting before then approving the minutes from the previous meeting that took place on October 20th.
The board then moved to hear concerns from the public. Numerous concerned citizens and parents came to speak to the board. Jeremy Smigelski spoke first regarding Coach Denton Saunders and the players.
“I’m just really disappointed that a lot parents had to take time out of their busy schedule to come do something that we feel leadership should have taken care of. The kids wanted change. They walked out and were ready to quit for the entire season.”
“They only came back because they were forced to come back because they were threatened with (losing) Homecoming. It was the kids cry for help, asking for change and they wanted the leadership to do that, not the parents,” said Mr. Smigelski.
He continued speaking to the board and talked about instances that he thought we serious. One such instance was during a previous game when a player suffered a head injury.
“He was then put back in the game after it was very well known that he was hurt. The school interviewed a lot of the coaches when this happened. There were a lot of coaches that knew he was hurt, and we all felt that there was a possibility of a concussion.”
“His excuse for playing him was that he thought he was dehydrated. The weather at the time was like 90 degrees and the humidity was very high. To me, the excuse that a kid was dehydrated, was just as dangerous as playing a kid with a concussion,” Mr. Smigelski continued.
He then continued and informed the board that the parents had previously looked into suing the school but nothing had taken place from that.
There is also a lot of yelling and cussing at students and other coaches in front of the students, with one coach being cussed at in front of his son who was on the team Mr. Smigelski explained.
Another parent that spoke that night was Erin Pawlowicz. She came to the meeting to try and help the students because she thought they deserved better.
“Our kids deserve better. They deserve to play the game they have liked since third grade without being in the toxic environment that he has brought.”
“When you have kids that are visibly injured during a game, and they have a trainer that loves them and takes care of them like they are one of their own.”
“They cannot express to the trainer their injuries if they are in ears length of him because they are afraid of what he would do. As soon as he would leave, the kids were able to tell Abby yes, I have a head ache, yes, my ankle still hurts.”
“But they were afraid to say anything because of what he would do and the comments they would get. There were comments to those that had been injured like this is what you get when you separate the men from the boys, that is not the kind of environment I want my kids to be in,” said Mrs. Pawlowicz.
The board did not make any comments regarding what the speakers discussed and moved on with the agenda.
Financial reports and donations presented to the board were also approved. The treasurer then made the recommendation to make numerous appropriation modifications and estimated resource changes with all of them being approved.
The Districts Five-Year Forecast was then presented to the board and approved followed by reports and recommendations from the superintendent.
The election took place on November 2nd and at this time the vote count between Fulton and Lucas County is showing a tie of 825 for and 825 against. The election results have been certified in Fulton County but has yet to be in Lucas County.
If there are any outstands ballots in Lucas County it could swing the vote either way. If the measure is struck down; it will need to be put back on the ballot in the Spring and a new vote by the board will be needed.
An invitation to join the Toledo Area Athletic Conference was received. Superintendent Chris Lake stated that “a move to the TAAC would represent an opportunity for Swanton Athletics to be more competitive and more successful.”
The board discussed what would have to be done to accept the invitation. It was stated that there is a two-year process to leave the current NWOAL league unless another school enters the league.
Substitute education requirements were then discussed. Due to the passing of SB 1, schools are now able to hire substitutes and no longer have to require that they hold a bachelor’s degree.
A discussion took place and the request was made to draw up a resolution to bring back to the board. Discussion then took place regarding update adult lunch prices, NEOLA board policy updates, program cost updates with St. Richards School for services, personnel changes, and a NWOESC service agreement for St. Richard Catholic School services.
Building reports were then given before comments and statements from board members were heard. The board then entered into executive session.
Upon their return, the board moved to adjourn for the evening.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com