Two USD 445 athletic coaches had their coaching contracts terminated by the USD 445 Board of Education in a four and a half hour meeting Monday night.

The board considered the termination of coaching contracts for Rich Giesen and Jimmy Littleford after a locker room  incident was reported to school administrators at the end of the 2009 football season.

After meeting in executive session, which is closed to the public and press, for more than four hours, the board voted 4-3 to terminate Giesen’s and Littleford’s coaching positions for the remainder of the year. The termination does not affect their teaching duties in USD 445.
Voting in favor of the termination were board members Jerry Hamm, Bob Elznic, Larry McGinnis and Helen Ellerman. Voting against the termination were board members Gene Brownlee, Denise Gates and Mike Mason.

Following the meeting, Dr. Robert Morton, USD 445 superintendent, would not comment on any details of the investigation that led to the coaches’ terminations.

Details of the specific lockerroom incident were never made public by school administrators, however Tony White, a Kansas National Education Association representative, told the USD 445 board on Monday that it involved a “mooning” between players. Other students told the Montgomery County Chronicle recently that the incident involved “hamming,” where bare buttocks are applied to the face of an unsuspecting person as part of hazing or as a locker room prank.

Giesen, who was the head football coach at Field Kindley High School, and Littleford, who was an assistant football coach, disciplined several players when the incident was reported to them.

However, school administrators sought the termination of Giesen and Littleford’s coaching contracts after they were informed of the matter, the students told the Montgomery County Chronicle.

The administration’s decision to seek termination of the two coaches’ duties led to a student protest on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 13. More than 100 students protested the call for removing the two coaches from their coaching posts.

On Monday night, the USD 445 board met behind closed doors for more than four hours while 40 community members and students spoke individually with the board to express their opinions about the matter.

The meeting was held in the Community Elementary School Multi-Purpose Room to accommodate the large crowd that viewed the meeting.

Giesen not only was the head football coach but also served as the head men’s and women’s track coach. Littleford was the co-head men’s basketball coach at FKHS and also served as an assistant track coach.

Littleford will remain as employed as a physical education teacher while Giesen will continue to serve as a weight and strength teacher.