By: Darius Duran
Following a packed house on a Sept. 15 board meeting, Oct. 12th school board meeting was expected to bring a similar crowd, but fell short in attendance when many seats were left empty. The meeting brought a total of eight public speakers; all but one on the topic of the school board and its recent decision in not renewing Eaton Baseball’s head coach, Jim Danley. Those who chose to voice their opinions included EHS teachers Doug Preston, as well as Tom Trotter, and community members included Danny Millett, Julie Blaskowski, Scott Renfroe, Chris Swain, and former Eaton School District board member, Tim Swain.
The members who spoke on the topic of the school board all had varying opinions of the recent actions taken and what they believed was best for the future of the school district. Many in the community were very disappointed in the board’s decision to not renew Danley’s contract which was voiced when Scott Renfroe said, “We might as well vote to get rid of the Reds also, while you’re at it.” Renfroe and Tim Swain also asked that all members of the school board along with EHS athletic director, Steve Longwell resign.
Preston spoke on behalf on all EHS teachers who signed a declaration which stated; “We, the undersigned staff of Eaton High School, declare support for our school board especially in light of the current coaching controversy. The board has continually shown support of us and our efforts on behalf of the students at Eaton High School.” Also in support of the RE-2 School Board stood EHS teacher Tom Trotter who stated, “In the 38 years I’ve been teaching, I’ve worked with a lot of school boards, and some were really bad. Probably the worst was here 20-some odd years ago, but I can say without reservation that I think the ethics and the integrity of this board and this superintendent are above reproach.”
Danny Millett stood in support of the kids and said, “In the past month and a half I’ve witnessed some of the most disappointing behavior from a community that should understand and value kids and people more than a pile of state championships from 3A baseball team…. What leaders on the Eaton varsity baseball team did was step up, being the men that they are. They articulated a need for a change in the toxic culture that Jim Danley and his son Kirk Danley have established and nurtured for many years.”
After the board meeting in a short interview with Millett he also said, “Those kids [who stood up for themselves] are some outstanding kids, I know everyone of them. I think that the people that talk about work ethic and all of those different things are disgraceful. I know how hard those kids work, and they’re going to come out and win some more championships.”
Superintendent Dr. Randy Miller said in a recent interview that this wasn’t the first time the School Board had received complaints against the baseball program and more specifically Coaches Jim and Kirk Danley. In response to the publicity the recent news has received Miller said, “The event as a whole has really taken away from our kids, and not just the baseball players. It’s really unfortunate that this is all that is showing up in the news when our band and many other athletic clubs are doing extremely well this year.” In conclusion to the past months that have plagued Eaton as a community Miller said, “It is unfortunate things turned out this way, it has been said before we didn’t want things to end this way, but they did and what’s important now is moving on from it and looking forward.”
