Wednesday, November 19, 2003
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Wednesday, November 19, 2003 |
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Principal puts positive spin on coaching changes By J. FRANK LYNCH The principal at Whitewater Middle School said the coach of the Lady Wildcat basketball program voluntarily chose to step down from those duties recently, but a newfound relationship with coaches at Whitewater High School has turned what started out as a bad situation into something beneficial for the young athletes. Principal Sandra Kidd said high school coaches Donna Bailey and Tracy Smith stepped in to lead the Wildcats this season when the team’s former coach resigned following tryouts last month. Kidd said the employment status of the former coach, Jill Collins, remains the same. “The employee is still employed here, as a classroom teacher, for which she was hired,” said Kidd. “She has simply given up her coaching responsibilities.” Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, public information officer with the district, confirmed that all coaches are hired as teachers first, and it is up to the individual school principals to make coaching appointments. Teachers asked to coach various teams are rewarded with small supplements. Other than to confirm that Collins’ remained employed by the school system at Whitewater Middle, Berry-Dreisbach refused to comment, citing employee privacy matters. Kidd also refused to go into detail about why Collins is no longer coaching the team, but stated that the decision to step down was based on a number of concerns. Kidd refuted rumors that school board member Greg Powers orchestrated the dismissal because his daughter failed to make the team. Powers’ wife, Bonita, did have a meeting with Kidd and the coach to express a concern about their daughter but that was just one factor in the decision, Kidd said. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said of the rumor, circulated widely through e-mail and referenced in The Citizen’s “Free Speech” column last week. Kidd said the team parents seemed to be pleased, as do the girls, now that the gossip has quieted. Bailey and Smith have already built anticipation in the seventh- and eighth-graders for Whitewater High, under construction about a mile away from the middle school on Ga. Highway 85 South. “The bottom line is, I see this as a positive change for our girls,” Kidd said. “There are enough challenges for middle schoolers going to high school, but these girls will already know coaches and what’s expected of them when they get there.” “Am I glad this happened? Of course not,” said Kidd. “But sometimes you have to go through difficult times to make things better.” Whitewater opened its season Tuesday against Rising Starr Middle. The team plays Friday at Austin Road Middle in Henry County.
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