By Michael Howell
Stevensville’s head basketball coach Keith Chambers was re-hired last week following a closed portion of the meeting in which the Board of Trustees considered a complaint lodged against him by the parents of a student athlete.
The meeting to consider re-hiring Chambers was held in open session. Board member Kevin Beller made a motion not to re-hire Chambers, but that motion failed due to lack of a second. A subsequent motion was made to re-hire him. Nineteen people spoke in favor of his re-hiring. No one spoke in opposition.
But a complaint against Chambers was on the table. Parents of a student athlete had previously lodged a formal complaint against Chambers alleging mistreatment of their son. The complaint, first lodged with the coach, was then taken to the school principal. Dissatisfied with that result the decision was appealed to Superintendent Kent Kultgen as policy requires. Part of the complaint, according to Kultgen, was the parent’s request that Chambers not be re-hired. Kultgen’s decision to recommend re-hiring was appealed to the school board. As a result the Board went into closed session to consider the complaint in respect of the student’s right to privacy.
Following the closed session the meeting was reopened and the board voted 6 to 1 to re-hire Chambers. Kevin Beller cast the dissenting vote.