Sumner hiring, resignation prompts new policy

SULLIVAN – Following public objections over the appointment of a schoolgirl varsity basketball coach, the Flanders Bay School Committee has agreed to create a written policy for how coaches are selected in the future.

The outcry from students and parents began after the superintendent’s daughter, Jessica LaPlante, was chosen last month for the position at Sumner Memorial High School. She was also hired as the school’s health and physical education teacher.

One candidate for the coaching job claimed he wasn’t given fair consideration because his application materials were not distributed to all members of the selection committee. Harold Page, the freshmen girls coach and assistant junior varsity coach for the past two years, said he is upset about how the hiring process was conducted, not about who was ultimately hired. He requested in writing that the appointment be rescinded and a new selection committee be convened.

The situation erupted Wednesday at the school board’s regular meeting, which drew about 50 people including more than a dozen basketball players wearing their blue practice jerseys. Page, a lieutenant with the Ellsworth Police Department, also attended.

At the start of the meeting, Union 96 Superintendent Donald LaPlante announced that his daughter had submitted her resignation to accept a teaching position in New Hampshire. That means the school board will reopen its search for a varsity coach.

At the superintendent’s suggestion, school board members declined to discuss the appointment process in open session.

“We can’t discuss any of that tonight,” LaPlante said. “It is not appropriate to spend time at a board meeting providing a hearing venue for people who were not successful in seeking a position. Board meetings are meetings for the business of a school board and a superintendent.”

Instead, school officials met in closed session for about 30 minutes. Afterward, the board voted to draft a formal policy for coaching appointments at its August meeting.

No written policy exists now but current practice allows administrators to hire coaches without school board approval, which LaPlante said is consistent with how other school districts handle coaching appointments. State law requires school board approval for hiring teachers and principals.

LaPlante said his daughter was chosen for the job not by him but by a five-person selection committee comprised of a school board member, the high school principal and assistant principal, the athletic director and a student. Members interviewed the applicants but reviewed no letters of recommendation for any of the candidates, he said.

Their choice was handed up to the principal, Michael Eastman, who also selected Jessica LaPlante for the teaching position. The superintendent said he excused himself from any discussions over her appointment.

After the school board’s vote Wednesday, Page met with parents and students in the gymnasium, where he thanked them for their support and encouragement. Junior varstiy coach Debbie Robinson accompanied him.

In the end, Page said, the school board did the right thing.

LaPlante said he plans to bring to the school committee in August a suggested policy for coaching appointments. The public will be able to comment at that time. Any policy would have to be reviewed by the board’s attorney and approved on first and second reading before adoption, he said.