No shortage of questions for NLR district

If what is in Brad Bolding’s personnel file is all the North Little Rock School District has on its (former) head coach, then it has a very weak case.

Bolding shared his personnel file Monday with Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporters Jeremy Muck and Chad Day.

It is hard to see serious wrongdoing by Bolding or really how receiver K.J. Hill was ineligible judging from the documents.

Montez Peterson getting a job that pays less than $19,000 a year working security for the North Little Rock School District is what is supposed to take Bolding down, but that isn’t against the law or against school rules.

Peterson had been a volunteer for the high school football team prior to his getting hired, so he obviously liked the school and vice versa, and he wasn’t hired until months after Hill, his stepson and one of the state’s top college football prospects, had transferred into the district.

The school district also alleged in its termination letter to Bolding that the coach gave Peterson a $600 check in violation of Arkansas Activities Association rules before Hill transferred into the school district.

If $600 — most of which has been accounted for to cover legitimate expenses, according to David Couch, Bolding’s attorney — is why Hill transferred from Bryant to North Little Rock, that’s the best bargain of the century. Bolding did not sign the check. Nor did he deliver the check, Bolding said.

If Bolding’s Facebook post about not having the same advantages as Bentonville is the big bomb, that’s ridiculous. Bentonville, which won the Class 7A football state championship, is a wealthy school district, and everything Bolding wrote in the post was factual. While it was written out of frustration after losing to Bentonville in the semifinals, Bolding has the same rights to freedom of speech as the rest of us. He took the post down minutes after he wrote it.

If it was because Bolding had a very active Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, well, let’s hope that wasn’t part of what is starting to appear like a witch hunt. Know this: Bolding would have quit rather than deny his faith.

Bolding has shared his story — more stories are coming — and has asked for an appeal hearing with the North Little Rock School Board.

The seven members of that board also will hear from representatives of the North Little Rock School District, and perhaps the board will ask if anyone feels it was premature to forfeit games and a basketball state championship — Hill played for the basketball team as well — without a more thorough investigation.

That action punished dozens of young men who poured their hearts and souls into Charging Wildcats football and basketball.

Just self-reporting the alleged violations to the Arkansas Activities Association and forfeiting a state championship and games without the AAA investigating the matter makes that seem like a kneejerk reaction at best.

The North Little Rock School District folks — specifically Superintendent Kelly Rodgers, Director of Human Resources Gregg Thompson and Athletic Director Gary Davis — haven’t talked, citing this as a personnel matter.

Surely, someone has asked for an outside audit of all athletic spending by now. A forensic audit by an outside source may be in order if they are worried about old headsets.

Someone also should ask why Bolding had very little in his personnel folder during his first six years at the school and several incidents cited over the past few months. Just call that what it is — a paper trail.

This column isn’t taking sides, but our reporters have done an excellent job of digging out the facts and continue to do so. Unless the North Little Rock School District has more, there doesn’t appear to be a firing offense, but rather a campaign to get rid of Bolding.

If the School Board thinks there were grounds for the firing, then the next logical step would be a lawsuit by Bolding. He is adamant about fighting what he sees as an injustice.

Peterson is already talking about appealing North Little Rock’s decision to forfeit its state championship and additional games.

Because this mess started in December, it makes you wonder if it affected Hill’s decision to leave Arkansas and play football at Ohio State.