OZARK – Carroll High School sophomore Brianna Seals would have never spoken up for something had she not felt passionate about it, she told Ozark City School Board members on Tuesday.
But her passion may have been why she helped organize several former and current CHS students on Facebook and in the community to speak up for her former coach, Curtis Stapleton.
Ozark City Schools Superintendent Mike Lenhart confirmed he terminated Stapleton Feb. 23 as the girls basketball, assistant football and track and field coach, which resulted in $20,860 supplementary pay.
Lenhart said Tuesday he did so because he believed it was best for the future of the athletic department.
According to letters the Dothan Eagle received that were addressed to Stapleton by Lenhart, Stapleton was terminated because of “three incidents that made” Lenhart “question” Stapleton’s “judgment as a coach and teacher-role model around female students.”
Stapleton said he did not know of such incidents and that he had never been reprimanded in the school system during his four years of employment.
Brianna and other students said Stapleton was a role model to them.
“He is like a father figure. He’s been there and he’s led us to championships. At D.A. Smith, we couldn’t wait to get to high school to play for him,” she said.
One parent and former city schools student, Reginald Johnson, said Stapleton turned the girls basketball team around.
“I’m not here to judge anybody, but I’ve looked at Ozark’s athletic programs since 1966 and now I’m looking at the severity of this decision, and this really affects the kids,” Johnson said.
“This budget, it’s a dollar. These kids, we can’t put a dollar value over. He’s become successful in a program that was in shambles. Replacing him is like finding a new parent for these girls who have adjusted to him.”
Stapleton, an Alabama High School Athletic Association "Coach of the Year" with two winning seasons after nearly a decade of losses in the program under other coaches, did not speak at the meeting.
The Dothan Eagle submitted an open records request but was denied by school board Attorney Henry Steagall a copy of any disciplinary action in Stapleton’s personnel file.
Steagall said Stapleton’s personnel file was private but did not cite any specific law that said so.
Lenhart said he would not reverse his decision on Stapleton’s termination as coach.
It was not clear whether Stapleton would or had appealed the decision before the school board.
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