These life lessons come at personal expense
Teachable moments take an unhappy twist when Crosby coaching staff endures layoffs
One of Michelle Trotter’s first preseason meetings with her basketball team at Crosby had little to do with opponents or tactics.
Instead, it was news that cut deep.
Trotter is one 34 teachers and employees expected to be let go after Crosby ISD’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted for mid-year layoffs this week. Dec. 20 is expected the be her last day at the school located 23 miles northeast of Houston.
Trotter hoped to turn this experience into a lesson, as any coach would.
“There are events in life that we can’t control,” said Trotter, recalling what she told players. “Sometimes we can’t control the outcome. But what we can control is the response.”
The team has had what Trotter calls the best preseason the girls program has had since its state semifinal campaign in 2015-16. It’s a testament to how the players have handled the news. An unfortunate situation can be a source of perseverance for the Cougars.
But it won’t make what’s happening at Crosby any less difficult to deal with. The number of employees lost in Crosby ISD this school year is about 57 when including those who resigned or retired after the district’s financial issues were announced in August.
Financial crisis hits district
School officials say the financial crisis is the result of irresponsible bookkeeping and accounting, overspending on construction and other projects, cash flow issues and overestimated revenues.
The district spent $15 million more than it collected in revenues in the last two school years. The district is cutting at least $5.5 million in payroll expenses out of the budget.
The issues were discovered in June after the departures of former superintendent Keith Moore and former chief financial officer Carla Merka.
It has impacted the school in every way — all librarian positions were cut for example — and trickled down to athletics. Nine coaches are losing their jobs district-wide.
Crosby football coach and athletics coordinator Jeff Riordan, who is losing a defensive coordinator to the layoffs, said the same work now will have to be done with about 25 percent less of the athletics staff. Those remaining will have to pick up extra classes to teach and extra sports to coach.
There was a hiring freeze last summer so Riordan had positions he wanted to fill from the spring but couldn’t.
Mid-year layoffs also put these coaches in tough spots as far as finding a landing spot. That’s easier to do in May as opposed to January.
‘Life hits you in the face’
The most difficult realization is it’s a situation out of the coaches’ hands — no fault of their own and most likely not much can be done to rectify the situation.
“It’s something that our district and community is dealing with,” Riordan said. “We have to take it in stride and move forward. It’s one of those things where life hits you in the face. It’s going to show what kind of person you are, and I think each one of these guys and ladies that are on my staff are taking it with so much grace and humility, eliminating the distraction that it is and … doing the best job that they can.”
Trotter hopes there is a position she can reapply for before December comes around, leaving a door open for her to stay.
She has headed one of Crosby’s most successful athletics programs since 2013.
But this year, she and her team are in a peculiar position with the season opener against Clear Brook looming on Nov. 2.
It’s a position that will have the head coach available for the first half of the season and the dynamic of the staff changing for the back end of it. Crosby will be three games into district play by Dec. 20.
Signs point to an assistant most likely assuming Trotter’s role. She has two new assistants on staff this year who came to Crosby to coach with her.
The head coach expects, however, that the program’s roots will supersede all.
“It could possibly be a tale of two halves, but I think the pieces that are there that are necessary for success are going to be there regardless if I’m going to be there or not,” Trotter said.