Parents, student tells school board about varsity bowling coaches

After waiting patiently for an hour and a half to speak as the school board meeting progressed, three members of the audience got up to talk to the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education at its regular meeting on Nov. 11.
They were among those dozen or so dressed in orange team shirts to show they were in support of the statements. They politely waited until the agenda came to the part where people could speak on non-agenda items.
Former Belleville Mayor Kerreen Conley was the first to speak about the coaching staff for the varsity bowling team, which she said had a challenging year last season. She said the parents followed the chain of command and told their concerns to the Belleville High School principal, the athletic director, and then to the superintendent of schools, but nothing changed.
Now they were coming to the board of education.
“We can’t put our kids through this for another year,” she said, referring to how the coaches rely on intimination and fear tactics, discipline without cause and then when there are violations there are no consequences.
Conley said the players are afraid to communicate with their parents and it has damaged their confidence. She said the game is a source of mental wellness, and brings camaraderie, pride, and some even got scholarships.
The coaches have disregarded the children, taken attitudes and rolled their eyes when parents spoke about their concerns, she said.
She said no parents were allowed to observe practices even though the students were in public facilities. She said they were told not to coach their children and the parents were OK with that, but the coaches have no accountability and are disrespectful to the children.
The district allowed them to hire an unpaid Junior Varsity coach and she thanked the board for that, asking how can you get a varsity team if a JV team isn’t in place?
“We had to ask coaches from other schools to help our kids,” Conley said.
“We are looking for action,” she said. “We haven’t started the season yet … We have a great team … some are top in our state… but it’s not because of our coaches.”
She said if there is no action, the situation will end up worse than last year when the season starts.
Doug Spicer got up to speak next. He was the JV coach for last season. He said he was a professional bowler for 30 years and a college coach. He was a special education teacher for 12 years.
“All I wanted to do was help… and promote the sport of bowling,” he said.
“Like with your football team,” he said. “You have coaches in place because you want to win.”
“I encouraged players to talk to each other … communications is a way to excel and win … with the varsity team there is no communication between the coaches and the kids … I am being told I cannot help my own daughter,” he said.
He said Conley mentioned that several people made States at Thunderbowl. He said there was an incident and he had his assistant college coach come down to help a bowler.
“Your coaches are getting paid to coach,” he said. “If they are not conferring with the players … You are doing them a disservice,” Spicer said.
He said there are three or four all-state players and BHS can win a state title, but missed it two years in a row.
“They needed guidance… They have talent to go all the way.”
The third speaker was his daughter, bowler Amber Spicer. She said she wanted to focus on the neglect and fear that has been inflicted on the players.
She said they are not allowed to bond and they have recordings of head coach Cynthia Allison from bus rides.
“I am told I cannot speak to my dad at all during games or practice,” Amber said. “My father would gladly help any student.”
Amber said coach Allison instills fear through threats. She said it has been suggested if the students don’t like it they can quit, but “Why should we quit … something we love?”
School Board president Amy Pearce said Supt. Kudlak will respond to each of the speakers individually. Later, she commended Amber for getting up to speak to the board because it’s very hard to get up before the school board, but she did so on behalf of her peers. The board applauded her efforts.
In other business at the Nov. 11 two-hour-and- six-minute meeting, the board:
• Had the JROTC color guard present the flag before the regular Pledge to the Flag. Captain Bates said this was to celebrate Veterans Day. He said they have 50 new first-year cades this year, a pinning ceremony is soon, boot camp is in May, a military ball is in December, and one or two students will be going to a leadership academy next summer;
• Watch the Van Buren Public Schools Educational Foundation present a check for $24,162 to cover 64 grants to teachers and schools, including a bubble wall at Edgemont and robotics team legos for all the schools. The annual fundraising party, which will have a Western theme this year, will be a Vegas night and is set for Feb. 1 at BYC;
• Voted unanimously to pass a resolution stating it will continue to collect school taxes in the summer. The school attorney advises that this resolution should be adopted annually. Finance Director Prya Nayak said if they do not levy summer taxes, the district does not have enough fund balance to operate without revenue until the first state aid payment of the school year in October and make the first debt payment in October;
• Heard Fall Building Presentations from Principal Tracy Bryant and Assistant Principal David Turner for McBride Middle School, Principal Fred Abel of Edgemont Elementary, Principal Nadine Dufrane of Owen Intermediate, and Principal Julia Pitts for Rawsonville Elementary. School Supt. Pete Kudlak asks building to present to the board one of their school improvement initiatives that they will be working on this year. In the spring, they will follow up with a report on how it went or how it had to be changed to reach their goals;
• Approved the resignation of Rachel Lott as of Jan. 5 after one year of service at the Early Childhood Center; and approved, as of Nov. 18, the employment of teachers Megan Bowman at Savage Elementary School and Julia Beck and James Ray at Rawsonville Elementary School;
• Approved the resignation of Zhanae Wright on Oct. 31 after less than a year in food service; and the hiring of Chrystal Ochs as a custodian as of Oct. 29 and Jack Taylor as a custodian as of Nov. 11; Joseph Kulza as a paraprofessional at Edgemont as of Oct. 29 and Cheyanne Melidosian as a paraprofessional at Edgemont as of Nov. 1; Ekram Elkiky as a paraprofessional at ECC as of Nov. 6; and Jonathan Turner as a bus driver as of Nov. 11 and Donna Marshall as a bus driver as of Nov. 5;
• Heard parent Angela Mears again ask about the status of the investigation of the fire caused by fireworks during a recent football game and how much damage was done to the Early Childhood Center parking lot. Supt. Kudlak said he would give her a call to give her details; and
• Heard Curriculum Director Jeff Moore announce that the Belleville Early College program with Wayne County Community College is being changed to Washtenaw County Community College because it has a more robust program. He said the partnership agreement with WCC has been signed.