Timeline of Events

Ronnie and Jamie Free and Family would like to thank everyone for their support and that they wanted everyone to know the WHOLE situation and what they have been dealing with!! Timeline of Events Surrounding the Non-Renewal of Ron Free, Adena Varsity Baseball Coach 07/14/15 - Ronnie received phone call from the High School Principal. He wanted to have a meeting with him regarding some complaints. Ronnie met with the High School Principal, the Superintendent and the Athletic Director that afternoon. He was told that Jeff Henness had talked to the High School Principal at Scioto Valley and Todd Thomas had made a phone call with complaints about players playing certain positions and receiving all SVC recognition. Ronnie hadn’t heard anything until the team lost in the sectional tourney game. During the meeting, it was verified that Ronnie had not been approached by anyone about this, nor had the Athletic Director or the Superintendent. Ronnie requested having a meeting with these parents, but the High School Principal felt it wasn’t necessary. Ronnie was told by the Superintendent, “I think I can handle this and head things off”. Note – when packet is received in mid-November, letter that Todd Thomas emailed to High School Principal is dated 7/14/2015. 07/14/15 - Ronnie called Jeff Henness the same day. He told Ronnie that “anyone could have coached this team these past two years”, “a certain player had no business playing second base”, “you screwed over a senior”, “shouldn’t have started a freshman pitcher in sectional game”, and “the backup catcher isn’t ready to be starting catcher next year”. 07/21/15 – Ronnie received a phone call from the Superintendent at 4pm while we are on vacation in Hilton Head. The Superintendent told him that a group of parents are going before the BOE at the meeting that evening at 6pm to speak against him. That group consisted of Jeff & Traci Henness, Mike Miller, John Cory, and Brad Wilburn. Jason Blevins went to the meeting in support of Ronnie (last minute notice!). Ronnie found out that Kevin Chester had spoken with a board member as well. When Ronnie texted Kevin to ask him about this, he was told that he did speak with a board member on the positives and negatives of the past four years of Ronnie’s coaching. He said he defended him as well as spoke out about things that he felt were not handled correctly. Kevin said he was asked to attend the board meeting, but declined. Ronnie was told by the Superintendent that he would need to go to the next board meeting to meet with board members concerning complaints. 08/18/15 – Ronnie went into executive session with BOE members, the Superintendent, and the Athletic Director. Ronnie was allowed to have two assistant coaches with him. Ronnie had stats as well as a three page list of contributions and accomplishments to present to board. Ronnie asked why the chain of command was not followed. He was accused by the board president of not following chain of command when building the new fence/backstop. He said that Ronnie had two electrical poles moved without permission! When Ronnie stated that this WAS approved by the board and the High School Principal and the Superintendent were there during the meeting they were approved, the Superintendent confirmed that that was true. NOTHING was said about coaching complaints! Only question that Ronnie was asked regarding ANY complaints was how the all-SVC selections were made. The Vice-President asked this question. During this meeting, Ronnie and the coaches discussed the need for resolution on this matter, due to needing to begin weight lifting and fall workouts – none of board members were even aware that this was part of the baseball program! Ronnie was also told by the Board President – “you are no longer under contract, so you are not allowed to do this”. They were not aware of when his contract had ended! At this time, they also discovered that Ronnie had been coaching in the post-season after contract had ended! 08/21/15 – Ronnie called to a meeting with the Superintendent and High School Principal. They tell him he is not going to like what they are going to tell him. They told Ronnie that they are posting the baseball job publicly and that he would have to reapply for the position! Never had to do this in the three previous seasons. 09/10/15 - The Athletic Director tells Ronnie that he is being officially recommended by administration at the next board meeting (09/15/15) to be renewed. Ronnie goes to another meeting with the Superintendent and the High School Principal. At this meeting, he is told to go ahead and continue working on the field and to go ahead with the first fall workout. 09/12/15 – Ronnie had the first fall practice for players not involved in football. All players not playing a fall sport were invited to come. One of the later allegations made by Todd Thomas was that he excluded some players. Six or seven players came to the work out. 09/14/15 – Ronnie received a phone call from the Superintendent at 5 pm to let him know that a group of parents had submitted a letter/petition against Ronnie and that it had been emailed to BOE members. **He found out that parents had gotten together on Sunday, 09/13 to put together this petition – one day after the fall workout when the assumed word Ronnie was being recommended to be re-hired! **This evening, Jamie contacted parents of boys that Ronnie had coached for years during summer to see if they would be willing to email the Superintendent with letters of support for Ronnie. Several people verified that they had sent emails – When we received the packet, there were three emails; although, I received confirmation that more than that had been sent to them. One baseball parent called the Superintendent on Tuesday AM, another baseball supporter called the High School Principal. Jaime sent an email to the Superintendent and her letter was in the packet. 09/15/15 - BOE meeting - After the executive session, a motion was made by the Student Achievement Liaison to rehire Ronnie. The motion was not seconded. The Superintendent had told Ronnie that he would not be voted on in the public forum if they had agreed not to renew him. They would not embarrass him or the school if they decided not to renew! 09/16/15 – Article in Chillicothe Gazette about non-renewal via Derrick Webb. He tried to contact all of the BOE members for comment, only the Student Achievement Liaison would respond. The Gazette contacted the Superintendent and High School Principal. The Superintendent commented that Ronnie’s contract had not been renewed. The High School Principal did not return calls. 09/22/15 – After seeking answers, Ronnie met with the Superintendent and the Student Achievement Liaison to discuss why all of this had occurred. The Superintendent asked him at this meeting if he was going to re-apply for job. The Superintendent showed Ronnie a packet that had been presented to the BOE in executive session at the meeting on 09/15. The next day, Ronnie submitted his application and it was accepted by the High School Principal. 10/06/15 - Board meeting – Jim & Barb Richards attended this meeting. The delivered a petition with 240 signatures of community members in support of rehiring Ronnie. They were given to the BOE members and superintendent before the meeting. The Superintendent told Mr. Richards that nothing pertaining to baseball would be decided tonight without Ronnie being able to talk to the board members, review the petition, etc. After executive session, the Board President came out and told the Richards family that the petition had some errors in it and that some of the names were cut off. He asked Jim to re-submit the petition, which was done a couple of days later. 10/07/15 –Ronnie received a text from the Athletic Director asking him to call the Superintendent or the High School Principal to set up another meeting!!! He met with the Superintendent, the High School Principal and the Athletic Director. They told Ronnie that “it was done, you are out”! The Superintendent said he was washing his hands of the situation and that Ronnie needed to contact each board member for answers as to why they were or were not willing to support him despite the administration’s recommendations. The Superintendent said it would do him no good to contact the Vice-President of the BOE. Ronnie called the Board Liaison Officer and the Athletic Control Board Liaison that evening. The Board Liaison Officer returned his call - Ronnie asked him why he wasn’t willing to support him despite the recommendation. The Board Liaison told him that he thought when the fencing/backstop was initially presented to the board by Ronnie that he was a little pushy in asking for it to be done. He also said that there was too much turmoil with parent complaints and that the “slate needed to be wiped clean with a new coach”. Ronnie mentioned voting against him and he said “we haven’t voted – the fat lady hasn’t sung yet”. This indicated that Ronnie was still in consideration for the job. The Board Liaison admitted that this situation should never have been brought to the board. 10/08/15 – The Athletic Control Board Liaison returned his call. When Ronnie asked why he was voting against him, despite the administration’s recommendation, he also said no vote had been made. Ronnie discussed the fact that he had never received an evaluation, ever. The Athletic Liaison agreed this was wrong. Every coach is to be evaluated after each season. He also admitted that this situation should never have been brought before the board. The Athletic Liaison said that he was concerned that Ronnie wouldn’t be able to move forward with coaching the team considering what had transpired with the parents. He told him that his position/opinion could be swayed if a parents meeting were to take place. Ronnie told the Athletic Liaison that he had asked for this meeting to happen back on 07/14 when he initially met with the High School Principal and the Superintendent to discuss complaints being lodged against him. 10/09/15 - Ronnie called the Board President, and he returned his call. He told Ronnie that “I don’t put much stock in the parent’s issue”. He was most concerned that Ronnie didn’t “follow protocol” in the fence building issue, that electric poles had been moved without permission, which were approved at the November 18, 2014 board meeting. All Board of Education members voted yes to move the poles and also voted yes to install a new backstop and bullpen. The Board President also brought up the issue with Ronnie’s father’s memorial sign that was hung on the bullpen (It was built with donation money in honor of Ronnie’s father). At a board meeting after Ronnie’s dad’s death, they approved to accept donation money in memory of Ron Free and the money was to be used however Ronnie chose for the baseball program. The Board President also said that after Ronnie had been told that he was being recommended again, he began to work on the baseball field. The Board President told him that he did not have permission to do that and that it was school property. The Superintendent told Ronnie to start his fall workouts and continue the field work. He did not seem concerned with parent issues, only the fence and sign issue! Mid October - While on deputy duty at the school during school hours, the Board President was asked by an 8th grade boy during lunchtime, “why didn’t you guys rehire Ronnie”? He responded, “Ronnie didn’t rehire himself. He didn’t follow protocol with building the new fence/backstop”. Again, the board approved the baseball field improvements at the November 18, 2014 board meeting. 10/20/15 - BOE meeting at Clarksburg Church - Jim Richards was on the agenda to speak in support of Ronnie and his rehiring. The board meeting attended by approximately 18 people who came in support of Ronnie. Jim was allowed to speak for five minutes. He questioned board members as to their motives regarding this matter. After the executive session, the Superintendent took Ronnie into the outside hall and stated, “I am sick of politics and this is the kind of situation that make superintendents want to resign”. He said that the “vote” was now 2-2 and that the Athletic Control Liaison was “on the fence” with his decision. The Athletic Liaison was wanting a meeting between Ronnie and the disgruntled parents to decide his vote. No parents in support of Ronnie were allowed at this meeting, nor any assistant coaches. A supportive baseball parent even went to the Superintendent to ask to attend this meeting and he told her he would not discuss anything with her and she wouldn’t be allowed to attend. Parents of choice were contacted and invited to this meeting – Todd Thomas, Jeff Henness, John Cory and Brad Wilburn. 11/2/15 – The meeting was held in the Principal’s conference room with Ronnie, Jeff Henness, Todd Thomas, John Cory, the Superintendent, the Athletic Control Liaison, the High School Principal and the Athletic Director in attendance. Brad Wilburn said he was detained at work and couldn’t attend. The meeting started with Ronnie being accused by Thomas and Henness of not being a leader or teacher. Todd said that Ronnie had not helped with getting player scholarships for baseball and that Ronnie had hurt a pitcher’s arm and had used him as a pitcher “only in pressure situations”. Every issue Todd mentioned was concerning his issues only. He also said a player had been excluded from the fall workout, although Ronnie has the text message to prove he was included in the list. Jeff complained that he “loved Ronnie as a friend”, but that he couldn’t coach! When asked when they would have a decision on a coach, everyone was told that a decision would not be made until December or January. 11/16/15 – Ronnie was told by friend, Jeff Richards, that Jeff had talked with the Athletic Director at the football banquet the day before and told him that he had heard they were interviewing other applicants for the baseball position. The Athletic Director said that the Athletic Control Liaison was not changing his position, which meant that Ronnie is out and they are moving on to other applicants. Jeff Richards then called the Athletic Control Liaison that evening to ask him why he wasn’t going to support Ronnie when Ronnie had participated in the parents meeting as requested. He told Jeff that Ronnie had not done what he had asked to earn his vote! Also, that Jeff needed to talk with Ronnie about this issue. After Jeff called Ronnie, Ronnie called the Athletic Liaison. He said that his position was not changing because “you did not mend your fences with the parents”. Nowhere does it state in the varsity baseball coach job description that he needs to mend the fences or get along with parents. He told Ronnie that he would not be brought up for further consideration in the job and that they were moving on in the process of hiring a new coach. The Athletic Control Liaison asked if the Superintendent or anyone had contacted him to let him know this and they had not. To date, Ronnie has not been contacted by any member of the school administration letting him know that all is over. 11/17/15 – Ronnie emailed the Superintendent requesting a copy of everything that was in the packet given to the BOE during the meeting in which he was non-renewed. Ronnie submitted a document request and the packet was mailed and received on 11/19/15. Items in some of the documents had been blacked out by a permanent marker, including names as well as other pertinent information. Contained in this packet was a personal letter from Todd Thomas (all of his information was blacked out, but Ronnie had already seen the letter during the meeting in September with the Superintendent and Student Achievement Liaison). Letter from Todd had been sent to the High School Principal on 07/14/15. Never mentioned to Ronnie in that initial meeting – was only told that a phone call had been made. None of the many issues and accusations made by Todd Thomas were ever mentioned to Ronnie by administration. Coaching Achievements and Accomplishments Two time SVC Coach of the Year (2014 & 2015) Southeast District Coach of the Year (2015) Southeast District North South All Star Game (2015) Chillicothe Gazette Coach of the Year (2014) Two SVC Championships Won the gold ball in 2015 Two Sectional Titles One District Title One Regional Appearance Raised over $30,000 for the baseball program Facility Upgrades New backstop New bullpen fencing New right field line fencing New fencing in front of dugouts Painted dugouts, scoreboard post, and foul poles (Paint provided by Ron Free) Built and installed new bat racks New batting practice turtle Daily Field Maintenance Mowing infield April through October (mower and gas provided by Ron Free) Watering and fertilizing (fertilizer provided by Ron Free Infield edging and pitcher’s mound repair (clay dug and provided by Ron Free) Baseball Program Additions and Civic Duties Performed Started the tomahawk helmet decal award motivational program Started a winter lifting program Re-instated the Jimmy Richards memorial award, which includes a $500 senior scholarship Four Academic All District Players in 2014 Ten Academic All District Players in 2015 Introduced first Senior Recognition Night Team has attended several cancer benefits Supported Zach Farmer cancer fight with helmet decals Supported Alec Pinkerton’s mother’s death due to cancer with yellow ribbons on our helmets Mentored several Adena Youth League players and attended their game Hosted a youth camp following each regular baseball season 2015 - Displayed the American Flag and sang the National Anthem for the first time at the baseball field How can the Adena Board of Education decide to not rehire a coach with these credentials and accomplishments? In November of 2015, there was a petition created on www.change.org to support the rehiring of Ron Free as Adena Varsity Baseball Coach. There were over 240 signatures on this petition in support of the rehiring. If you signed this petition and are interested in change, then please consider the following options:  In March of 2016, the current Board of Education has decided to run an athletic levy which will consist of a property tax in combination with a .5% income tax. Please educate yourself on the current financial state of the district.  As of January 2016, there will be one seat open on the Adena Board of Education. Applications for this board opening are currently being accepted until December 11, 2015. Please visit the Adena website, www.adena.k12.oh.us and click on “Forms and Links” to find the application. The appointed member will serve until December 31, 2017. Images can be seen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/138631423@N06/shares/02C506