Mason resigns, district to seek new golf coach

“It has been an honor and privilege to coach so many fine students during my (18-year) career as golf coach,” Mason wrote in a letter read during the meeting by board member Mike Holden. Mason did not attend Monday’s school board meeting.

In May, a resolution adopted by the board placed Mason on paid suspension for the remainder of the 2013 golf season following a school-administered investigation. The same resolution stated Mason’s coaching position would not be renewed for the 2014 season.

The investigation conducted by Superintendent Nordy Nelson revealed Mason allowed a stranger to ride in the school van while five of the boys on the golf team were in the van returning from an out-of-town golf meet.

In his resignation letter, Mason apologized for “the mistake I made transporting a gentleman in need of a ride.”

The letter continued he has “always strived to put the interests and safety of my golfers first and regret this unfortunate lapse in judgment.”

“He chose to go this route and I give him credit,” Holden said of Mason’s decision. “You all know how I felt about this. I’m extremely saddened.”

In his letter, Mason offered to reimburse the district and taxpayers for the days he did not work. The board, however, did not accept the offer.

The board will now seek applicants for the coaching position and said there is the possibility to have two separate coaches for the boys and the girls’ golf teams because of scheduling and supervision issues.

“We can’t operate with one coach,” Holden said. “You need to have two coaches. I hate to say this, but all the other schools have two people doing this.”

Board member Gordy Dault supported considering the two-coach idea.

In related business, before accepting Mason’s resignation, the board heard from Mason’s sister, Nancy Imhof, during the open forum section of the meeting.

“I would like the board and the public to know this has weighed heavily on Bill these past couple of months,” she said. “Believe me when I say, no one has suffered more than he has over this issue.”

Imhof acknowledged her brother never denied he made a mistake, adding she felt others involved in the situation had made mistakes, too.

“It could be considered a mistake that the school has no specific rules in place for coaches who must drive to events,” she said. “In my opinion, it is hard to claim a rule has been broken when in fact, there is no such rule...Presenting a policy to each driver would help clarify what is and what isn’t allowed.”

Imhof said there was also false information reported about the incident and clarified Mason picked up “an elderly gentleman in an A&W (restaurant), not a hitchhiker.”

She added the passenger was only taken five or six miles to the junction of Highway 6 – not the White Oak Casino.

Imhof said she was recently made aware of a driving violation by another coach, which she did not name. She said the coach was texting while driving, but did not mention if the coach was transporting students at the time.

Holden, who serves on the Falls Recreation Commission of which Mason is the director, said the commission adopted a policy for rec drivers that listed a number of policies including not picking up hitchhikers and not texting or drinking while driving.

Nelson said a committee will meet to discuss coaching policies and develop a plan to handle future situations.

In other business Monday, the board agreed to offer a half-time teaching position to Tom Vollom for three hours per day out of the district’s Title VII Indian Education Grant, which is valued at about $27,000.

The motion came after the board denied hiring Vollom as coordinator for the 2013-2014 Indian Education program.

Vollom, who Monday said he needed time to consider the offer, was instructed by the board to let Nelson know his decision in a timely manner so the superintendent can finalize the decision.

Should Vollom accept the offer, he would teach Ojibwe II, Ojibwe III and American Indian Studies.

“It’ll give students who took Ojibwe I the opportunity to get two years of the same language in high school,” Nelson said.

Vollom has been employed as the Ojibwe languange/culture teacher at FHS since 2003, and was placed on unrequested leave after the district was notified June 7 it wouldn’t be a recipient of the Minnesota Department of Education’s Success for the Future Grant, a grant the school has received in the past.

The half-time teaching position, should Vollom accept it, would make him eligible for benefits according to the current teaching contract, Nelson said.

Vollom Monday told board members he is in the process of applying for a grant that would generate up to $50,000 for Ojibwe language classes.

He said applying for the grant coincides with his effort to do “anything to keep this going for the kids.”