Southeast parent questions coach dismissals

Published 7:22 am Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Susan Moore said she believes the public has a right to know why two Southeast Whitfield High School coaches she described as very “respected” in the community were recently relieved of their coaching duties.

Whitfield County Schools Superintendent Danny Hayes and Principal Karey Williams have been silent on their reasons for asking husband and wife David and Elizabeth Crane to resign — as football coach and girls basketball coach respectively — and telling them they would be transferred to other schools as teachers next year. It appears they will remain so.

“We definitely appreciate the concerns,” Board of Education Chairman Louis Fordham said at a board meeting on Monday. “Any time you have personnel changes … it touches a lot of people more directly, but again I emphasize that we are going to protect the privacy of individuals … Personnel matters have always been private. They will continue to be private.”

Fordham said school officials keep personnel matters private because of potential litigation and because they want to “protect the privacy” both of the employee and of other people who may have been involved in something that led to a decision about someone’s employment.

Moore, a substitute teacher in the school system who has two children at Southeast, said she understands the need to be cautious about what is said about employees to avoid being sued. Yet she said she also believes parents have a right to know what’s going on.

“Teachers often spend more time on a daily basis (with these children) than the parents do,” Moore said. “Teachers must be held to a higher standard like any public servant.”

Both coaches have said they were asked to resign but weren’t told why other than that Williams wanted to go in “a different direction.” Elizabeth Crane said she did resign while David Crane said he would not, in essence forcing the school system to either keep him in the position or fire him. Neither coach had a winning record.

Board members are expected to approve those decisions at their April 16 meeting, which is at 6:30 p.m. at the central office on Thornton Avenue.