By: Darius Duran
It was standing-room-only inside the district board room for the discussion of EHS baseball coach, Jim Danley’s job. Danley, a Colorado High School Hall of Fame coach, has been the concern of the whole town for the past few weeks ever since a 13 -point performance improvement agreement was drafted and presented to Danley by athletic director, Steve Longwell, and district superintendent Dr. Randy Miller. The contract,which if failed to be signed, would result in non-renewal of Danley’s coaching contract. The meeting gained more interest when oponents of the agreement posted a petition on Change.org titled, ‘Fire Superintendent RANDY MILLER.’ The petition currently has 208 supporters as of the noon of Tuesday, Sept.15. The meeting also caught more attention after the Greeley Tribune ran a story on Saturday, Sept. 12 about emails sent between board members discussing the voting process of Danley’s job which violate Colorado’s Sunshine Laws.
The performance improvement plan was issued to Danley on Friday, August 28. Monday’s board meeting had been planned to possibly decide the fate of Danley’s career, but it quickly evolved into a forum for voices within the community to share their views on the topic with others in the town, as well as to the school board. A total of 17 people signed up for an opportunity to speak in front of the board. Both those for and against Danley spoke out, as well as six high school senior baseball players who said they wanted to speak neutrally about Danley for the sake of speaking on behalf of the kids currently in the program. Speakers at the meeting included current students, EHS alumni and former baseball players, as well as parents and community members. Opinions were voiced against the board, against Jim Danley himself, as well as Danley’s son, Kirk, and tones varied between heartfelt support to all-out aggravation both at the board and at the coaching staff.
The most recent occurrence that has plagued the situation involving Danley’s employment occurred when the School Board was accused of breaking Colorado Sunshine Laws. The first segment of the law states “It is declared to be a matter of statewide concern and the policy of this state that the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret.” Eaton’s school board came in direct violation of this action when emails between board members were found. Not only were the board members in direct violation of the law when they discussed Danley’s employment, but they specifically talked to one another about which way that they would vote as well. The decision for Danley’s job is yet to be determined.
