Board Does Not Rehire Coach
MCHS Girls Basketball coach Chris Kennedy was not rehired as a physical education teacher at the board’s March 23 meeting, effectively ending his two-year tenure as coach of the Lady Mustang basketball team.
For the second time in two years, the McDonald County Board of Education has fired a head basketball coach. Girls’ coach Chris Kennedy was not rehired as a physical education teacher at the board’s March 23 meeting, effectively ending his two-year tenure as coach of the Lady Mustang basketball team.
According to unapproved minutes from a closed session of the March 23 meeting, Kennedy was presented to the board for rehire by high school principal Julie Holloway, along with other teachers from the high school.
But board member Jeff Cooper made a motion to employ the list as presented by Holloway, except for the removal of Kennedy, so his employment could be voted on separately.
After the approval of the list without Kennedy, Cooper then made a motion to rehire Kennedy as a teacher at the high school, but the motion failed on a 4-2-1 vote, including Cooper voting against his own motion.
Others voting not to rehire Kennedy were Andy McClain, Josh Banta and Scott Goldstein.
Beth Buckingham and Frank Woods voted to rehire Kennedy, while Chris Smith abstained.
Kennedy was the lone staff member to be pulled by the board from those lists submitted by the principals at the district’s 10 attendance centers.
Athletic director Bo Bergen said Kennedy’s tenure as a coach was discussed beforehand with the administration. Bergen said he supported the action of the board. Coaches are slated to be rehired in May.
In his first year as coach of the Lady Mustangs, Kennedy went 7-18. This past year, the Lady Mustangs went 10-17, including a win over Monett and a near-miss against Webb City in the district tournament.
Contacted on the evening of March 26, past the 72 hours that minutes from closed sessions are not to be made public, in order for anyone getting fired to be notified before the firing becomes public, Kennedy said he had not been notified of his dismissal.
Contacted again on Monday, March 30, Kennedy said he received a letter that morning notifying him he had not been rehired. Later that day, a full week since he was not rehired, he said he finally got a call from Hollaway to tell him the board voted not to rehire him.
Bergen said he posted the vacant coach’s job last week and had already had several applicants by the end of the week. He said he plans to do interviews this week and have a recommendation for a new coach by the board’s May meeting.
Last year, Kyle Fields was fired without Bergen’s knowledge at the end of the 2018-19 basketball season.
Fields was hired by East Newton for the 2019-2020 season. He led the Patriots to the championship of the West Division of the Big 8 Conference while being named the division’s Coach of the Year.