Parents, students show up to support coach

Around 100 parents, students and athletes attended the Hot Springs County School District’s Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night, expressing their wish for the district to reconsider the firing of Coach Matt McPhie.

McPhie, who coaches football and girl’s basketball as well as teaching, was denied a renewal of his contract for the upcoming year.

About 30 of those in attendance spoke up for McPhie, the parents urging the board to reconsider their decision based on how they have watched him work with students, his dedication to students from the little ones in rec sports through high school and his family’s place in the community.

Some of those parents admitted they were skeptical at first, some even saying they weren’t sure his methods were going to work, but in the end they saw what he had done, not only for their own children, but the teams as a whole.

Even students who are not athletes who have McPhie as a P.E. teacher told stories of how he has pushed them beyond what they thought they could accomplish, students who don’t have him in the classroom commented he is always checking on them, knows who they are and is always there for them if they need to talk about anything.

McPhie’s football and girl’s basketball teams spoke glowingly of him, many of the boys feeling as though he is like a second dad to them, a man who listens and truly believes in what they’re doing. They said his program in the beginning was hard to get used to, but now they are really seeing where he’s going with them and know what he expects and respect him for the time he is putting in with all of them, creating a family, not just a team.

Several of the girl’s basketball players got emotional talking about McPhie and what he has done for them. While some of them had issues with him during the season, they agreed he had taken them beyond what they thought they were capable of.

All of this was expressed during the Visitors/Public Comment period of the meeting, so no action was taken by the board other than listening to the comments.

A representative of Edward Jones, the company that handles the district’s scholarship investments suggested the board may want to consider looking at changing their strategy when it comes to their investment portfolio.

The district has had their investments in the same configuration since 2008, and while they have had safe growth, he believes the portfolio is stagnant and there are other ways they could move investments around to make more money.

He suggested closer to a 50/50 mix for the next 10 years based on how the market is performing right now.

He will come back at a later date for further discussion and bring along a few concrete options for the district.

The board also discussed a Superintendent’s Evaluation Tool they will have to begin using this year and send a report to the state.

While there are several different tools that are acceptable, they are concerned this is an overstep by the state. The district is in charge of hiring or firing their staff, including their superintendent, so they are wondering why the state needs this type of information.

The board also went through a quick overview of the proposed preliminary budget, calling for $11.4 million for the coming year.