Schools
Haverford Twp. Supe: Coach Firing Not Caused by Anonymous Surveys; Gives No Other Reason
At a school board meeting, Superintendent William Keilbaugh said Terry McNichol's firing was "emphatically, emphatically not based on survey results."
Haverford Township School Superintendent William Keilbaugh spoke publically about of Haverford High School boys’ basketball coach Terry McNichol on Thursday night and insisted that the 15-year veteran did not lose his job because of surveys.
Keilbaugh’s comments were made during this , three weeks after board members sat silently and refused to comment as McNichol spoke out about being fired without explanation, and parents and students asked the school district to give the coach his job back at .
Keilbaugh said he had a statement to make “in light of recent publicity.” The Haverford-Havertown Patch was the .
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The superintendent began by stating that “Haverford School District is committed to providing positive scholastic, athletic experiences” and for that reason, the district “over a two-plus year period” had been sharing its concerns with McNichol.
“This administrative decision was made to go in a different direction,” Keilbaugh said. “We thank him for his 15 years of service. This allows us to start fresh, energize and rebuild the program.”
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Keilbaugh stressed that the decision not to renew McNichol’s contract was not based on the results of an anonymous coach survey which was given to student athletes and parents.
“It was emphatically, emphatically not based on survey results,” Keilbaugh said.
Keilbaugh said the assessment and decision were based on a larger decision than the survey results.
Later in the meeting, Board of School Directors President Denis Gray said he was upset by comments which were made about the boys’ basketball team at the April 7 school board meeting.
“Comments were made that we don’t have talent at times … It’s very upsetting to me and insulting to our students,” Gray said.
Gray did not mention McNichol by name but made a reference to coaches.
“Our coaches have to be held to the same standards as our athletes,” Gray said.
When Gray was asked by a Patch reporter after the April 7 meeting to comment on McNichol’s firing, Gray said the board does not comment on personnel issues in public.
