There's trouble brewing in the small Iowa town of Jesup. And it involves one of small-town Iowa's favorite past-times: high school football.
In most towns the size of Jesup (2122 in 2000), the only buzz on high school football is on Friday nights in the fall - the old men in the barbershop, the cheerleaders in the hallways at the high school, and the groundskeepers painting fresh lines on the field. In the Jesup, and ugly battle between the former head coach and the school board has spilled over, finding its way to the Iowa Supreme Court, and capturing the attention of football fans across the state.
In April of 2009, Head Coach Bruce Wall was served a notice of termination of his football coaching contract. The notice cited five reasons:
- Ineffective program leadership
- Failure to maintain student interest and participation in the program
- Ineffective team discipline
- Lack of effective communication with assistant coaches
- Failure to maintain an effective relationship with students and parents
(Board of Directors of Jesup School District vs. Bruce Wall)
Wall responded by requesting a hearing in front of the school board, at which time they threw out two of the reasons (ineffective team discipline and lack of communication with coaching staff), but upheld that the superintendent had met her burden to show grounds for termination.
Determined to win the war, Wall sought a review with an adjudicator, who reversed the school board's decision, finding there was not sufficient evidence for termination. The school board retaliated by seeking judicial review in and Iowa District Court, who reversed the decision of the adjudicator. Wall fired back by appealing to the Iowa Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals found in Wall's favor in a 2-1 split decision. Now, after a unanimous vote (7-0) taken Monday night, the school board is asking that the Iowa Supreme Court rule at the case.
How could it come to this? A small town of 2122 people finds themselves in front of the Supreme Court, arguing over a game- one that is close to the heart of every small town Iowan. As if it's not bad enough to live through legal nightmares at a college and professional level, now it's found its way to the high school level.
How could it come to this? To understand, we have to take a trip back in time to the year 2000...
Bruce Wall's first season at the helm saw Jesup go 1-8. In year two, he improved to 4-5. In the next several years, Jesup went 6-3 in 2002, 8-2 in 2003 (including a playoff game), 5-4 in 2004, 1-8 in 2005 and 2006, and 0-9 in 2007 and 2008.
The wheels started to come off in 2006. Following a blowout loss to Hudson (54-0), the AD initiated a meeting with the school's principle to discuss the football program. The two agreed the program was no longer competitive, and needed to improve. After the season, the principle contacted Wall, and asked him an important question: What have you done to try and improve our team? The principle also noted there should be a mandatory weight program during the off-season (a violation of IAHSAA rules), encouraging athletes to participate in other sports (track, etc.), and starting a flag-football program for 3rd-4th graders.
Wall responded by saying his career record at Jesup translated into a 40.8% winning percentage, up from 35.8% prior to his arrival. He had also ran a flag football team for four years (2000-04), but had no luck getting support from parents in the community. He also proposed a new points system, "Football Off-Season Expectations," that included incentives for lifting weights, speed training, and academic success. Wall also pointed out a mandatory off-season lifting program was illegal per IAHSAA rules.
All was quiet for the next two seasons.
An important note- through the end of the 2008 season, Wall had never received a formal coaching evaluation in person or in writing. That's when the timeline really speeds up:
November 3, 2008 - The principal and AD ask Wall to resign as head football coach, Wall says no
February 27, 2009- Wall receives a formal written evaluation
April 24, 2009- Wall receives his notice of termination
There are a couple of problems here- Last time I checked, there is no football season between February and April. Sounds to me like they tried to throw the paperwork together at the last minute, and didn't give coach much of a chance to fix anything. Call this mistake #1.
Mistake #2 came when you made violating the rules a requirement to keep his job. By making coach set up a mandatory weight lifting program, you are asking him to violate IAHSAA rules. Make no mistake, Coach Wall did try his best. In the majority opinion in Board of Directors of The Jesup Community School District vs. Bruce Wall, Judge P.J. Eisenhauer cited the athletic director as saying:
"...you know, (Wall) opened the weight room. He would get - I know one season he was running out - he would pick up kids and bring them in to lift in the mornings because they didn't have a ride in..."
Sounds like coach was trying to get kids motivated. Eisenhauer goes on to point out that Wall,
"...tried to talk to parents. I know he talked to one. The kid would show up for maybe a week, and then he wouldn't come anymore..."
The Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to reverse the firing and reinstate Wall. The dissenting opinion, written by Judge JJ Tabor, basically says that firing a coach based on their win loss record fits within the school district's goals and objectives for the program.
You can find the complete opinion here:
http://www.iowacourts.gov/court_of_appeals/Recent_Opinions/20110427/1-106.pdf?search=jesup+community+school#_1
It sucks that a small town has to fall under the dark umbrella of an ugly court case surrounding such an great past time. But in this case, Bruce Wall may be in the right- I certainly feel for him. We'll discuss this issue in depth on tonight's KXNO Prep Report from 6-7 PM. Podcast should be available tomorrow.
In a case like this, someone wins, but the entire town may lose.
The clock is running, and as of now we are officially keeping score.
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