Trending
There’s been a lot of talk in the community lately about coaches and other people involved in Mifflin County High School’s athletic administration being fired.
There’s only one problem: Some of it is a shade shy of the truth.
Every coaching position in the school district opens every year. It’s not a matter of the old coach being fired, it’s a matter of the old coach having to reapply for his or her position.
As of Monday afternoon, nine coaching positions are listed on the school district website. Among them are all of the winter coaching positions and three for the fall: football, girls soccer and golf.
This is routine business in schools, and happens every year in most school districts across the state. It does not speak positively or negatively of the coaches who held the positions the prior school year.
Mifflin County is also advertising for an athletic director, and has changed the description of the job position slightly. Current AD Matt Shoemaker confirmed to me that he will not be in the post next fall. But it’s inaccurate to say he’s been let go, as some have claimed – he’s still the athletic director, and will be through the end of the school year.
At the end of each season, the district posts the coaching positions internally – similar to the way the winter sports jobs are being advertised now. If the previous coach wants to continue, the district could choose to rehire without any further action. The administration may want to look at other candidates, and can do so by advertising the job on the outside.
Candidates are screened, some are interviewed, references are checked. Generally, a small committee – the high school principal, the AD, perhaps the assistant principal or others – make a recommendation to the school board.
Only the board can hire individuals.
We can safely assume that some of the coaching positions that are open will be filled by new candidates. Last year’s golf coach, Ryan Kanaskie, left his position as pro at Lewistown Country Club for a job outside the area, and will therefore not be in position to coach the Huskies. Trevor Eckley told me last fall he was leaving girls soccer, and reiterated that when our paths crossed recently.
The job that is drawing the most attention is football, which went from an internal to a publicly advertised position early this month. It’s just a part of the process, Superintendent James Estep told me in a conversation Monday afternoon.
Estep said the district was patient in “doing internal evaluation of what we wanted to do. We took some time to deliberate. It took a little while longer than normal.”
But you can’t fire someone whose job was going to be open, at least to internal candidates, whether or not he or she wanted to return. The job, by definition, was available at the end of the season.
A big impact when it comes to coaching jobs is teaching vacancies, Estep explained – it’s easier to hire a coach who is also a teacher; it’s in the late winter that the district usually begins learning of pending retirements, because teachers who announce their intent early may be eligible for a bonus for doing so.
“That was part of the thought process,” Estep said: Wait and see.
That doesn’t necessarily mean George Miskinis will not be back as football coach in the fall – it just means the district wanted to look at more options. Likewise, Dave Sheetz, who finished out the season heading up the boys basketball program may be the coach next winter – if he chooses to throw his hat in the ring – or it may be someone new.
The change to the AD job description opened the door to the idea of a coach who also would serve as athletic director; again, Estep said, it’s just another consideration and should not be viewed as an indicator of the administration’s thinking.
“That’s one of the potential options, although the longer we thought it out, there’s possibly a different structure we’re considering,” he said. Now, the district is not sure if it wants to go that way, he said.
Mifflin County isn’t the only district hiring coaches – Mount Union will be replacing its girls basketball coach, who left after a season; Midd-West is going to need a new boys basketball coach after a short tenure. But as the largest school district in the region, and one that draws more focus simply because of its conference affiliation in a more metropolitan area, there is a lot of attention being paid to what happens here.
Unfortunately, that clashes with the school district’s obligation to maintain confidentiality on personnel issues – and the fact that this newspaper, as a responsible member of the community, doesn’t trade in rumors and innuendo about our friends and neighbors.
Think about it another way – if you lost your job, would you want a newspaper story done about it?
What it comes down to, Estep reiterates, is the ability of the district to find quality coaches at the level of pay coaching offers – which is fairly scant.
“If there aren’t available full-time jobs you’re relying on somebody who hopefully doesn’t need a full-time job and has the ability and background to coach,” he said.
Jeff Fishbein is sports editor of The Sentinel. Contact him at jfishbein@lewistownsentinel.com.