Jul 8, 2015 4 min read

The stories of high school coaches being dismissed by school boards for illogical and unjustified reasons sometime sound more like plot twists in a soap opera than anything else.

In many situations, this he-said she-said tug-of-war usually ends with a coach’s dismissal and is followed by the same type of gossip. Parents, district administrators or even school board members can be at the center of a witch hunt to oust a coach.

Common sense dictates that personnel decisions would best be decided by whether the kids enjoy playing for a coach and their success and development on the field.

That’s not always the way it works, but a court decision Wednesday might alter the amount of power school boards wield.

According to PennLive.com, the Commonwealth Court upheld an arbitrator’s ruling that required the reinstatement of Shawn Shreffler, whose contract as Chambersburg High School’s boys basketball coach was not renewed in 2012 in response to claims by parents that he degraded and embarrassed players in front of teammates.

Last February, an arbitrator ruled in favor of Shreffler, ordering his reinstatement and any lost wages since his dismissal three years ago.

Coaches across the state should applaud the ruling. The arbitrator, Diana S. Mulligan, found the school board had not demonstrated it had just cause to remove Shreffler as head coach and noted it was obvious his firing was based on complaints from one or more disgruntled parents.

Sound familiar?

Judge P. Kevin Brobson agreed Wednesday by rejecting the school board’s argument that the firing should have been upheld because Shreffler’s coaching job was not protecting under the district’s collective bargaining agreement.

Since last football season, seven of the 21 high schools in the O-R’s coverage area have changed football coaches.

That doesn’t include other WPIAL sports. This offseason, numerous coaches with winning records in the last school year were not asked back to their respective jobs. Too often, school boards change coaches like it’s a game of fantasy sports, dropping one and hoping for the best with the next. You can always change again if it doesn’t work out, right?

Coaches put in a lot of work for little money, sacrifice time with their own families and are sometimes repaid by getting their position opened.

It happens more often than you think.

Having a successful season doesn’t seem to matter sometimes. Some coaches are fired for subpar performances or if standards were not met, but a school board can open a position without any questions being asked. Who knew there would be politics surrounding teenagers playing sports?

Establishing probable cause wouldn’t be difficult if it is justified but school boards usually decline to comment.

Justifying the decision to a reporter is not the point. Why not explain to parents and students why the decision was made without violating a coach’s privacy rights? Don’t they have a right to know?

This latest court decision might make that happen.

• The National Federation of State High School Associations announced more rule changes for high school basketball.

The rule prohibiting excessive contact has been expanded to include all ball-handlers, including post players.

The new rule states that “a player becomes a ball-handler when he or she receives the ball, including in the post.” Acts that constitute a foul when committed against a ball-handler are: placing two hands on the player, placing an extended arm bar on the player, placing and keeping a hand on the player, and contacting the player more than once with the same or alternating hands.

There will be an even greater emphasis on the hand-touch rule and will be expanded to within the lane.

It could a great idea, but the rule is called inconsistently and often slows the pace of play. Free-throw shooting contests don’t develop high school basketball players. Let them play.

• The male and female Athlete of the Year will be in the Sunday, July 19 edition of the Observer-Reporter.

Staff writer Lance Lysowski can be reached at llysowski@observer-reporter.com