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The recent resignation of Rootstown's head football coach after the superintendent overturned his suspension of a player for reportedly using racial slurs is prompting community outcry and an independent investigation by the school board.
Rootstown Board of Education member Steven Vasbinder acknowledged Monday night that he called for head football coach Troy Spiker's resignation last week after the coach suspended a player for reported repeated use of racial slurs.
Superintendent Andrew Hawkins said he consulted Vasbinder, high school Principal Jim Conley, Athletic Director Keith Waesch and Board Vice President Tom Siciliano and ultimately reversed Spiker's decision and reinstated the athlete, leading to the coach's resignation.
Board President Amanda Waesch, who is the wife of the athletic director, was not satisfied by their explanations.
"My recommendation is that we investigate the entire series of events from the start of football to Coach Spiker's resignation. I want the facts leading to it, what occurred, how many times, who was involved from student athletes to employees of the district, coaches and staff, and how we got to this point. We have to learn something from this. We can't let this happen again," Waesch said.
While the investigation will look at the football program, several audience members said this incident is just one example of ongoing racism and incompetence within the district, and several called for Hawkins' resignation and threatened to vote board members out of their seats.
What happened?
By several accounts by district officials and community members on Monday night and from previous reports, the events leading to Spiker's resignation started with the reported use of the N-word during a high school football practice in early August.
Evand "Sparky" Birkett, whose sons are on the football team and who were directly affected by the events, said that there were four incidents of racism in two days, including a white player saying to one of his sons, who is Black, "Do you know the definition of the N-word?" and a physical altercation.
According to Vasbinder, the use of the racial slur could not be confirmed and so both the white player and Birkett's son were asked to take three days off of practice to "cool off." There was no further punishment.
Charles Harris, a Rootstown parent who previously coached with Spiker and who Spiker called after the altercation, said two other boys came forward to confirm the player had used the racial slur but that their statements were disregarded because it was not heard by an adult.
Harris said he told Spiker that Rootstown does not have the proper systems in place to handle racial situations, and so he suggested that Spiker work within the existing Rootstown policies to punish the white player. He said they agreed that another incident would be grounds for removal from the team.
Later, another incident occurred with the same player, and Spiker followed through with his plan to remove the student from the team.
Waesch previously told the Record-Courier he was not part of the process.
Birkett said he was in support of the student staying on the team because "he needs to be under the tutelage of someone like Troy Spiker to give him a correction on his behavioral choices."
Once Spiker's consequences were reversed, "That, just for common terms, took the legs out from underneath myself (in) trying to set the standard (of) the program," Spiker told the Record-Courier.
Spiker resigned Wednesday, only two games into his first season leading his alma mater, and the board unanimously approved his resignation Monday, effective Sept. 9. Spiker was not in attendance.
Most, though not all, audience members spoke in support of Spiker.
What happens next?
The board also approved the resignation of assistant football coach Tom Wilson, effective Sept. 10, and replaced Spiker with Robert Treharn, the middle school coach.
The resignations and hires were followed up by the board's unanimous approval of an independent, third-party investigation and the appointment of middle school Principal Rob Campbell as district liaison to that investigation.
Amanda Waesch noted that she is married to the AD, the assistant superintendent is married to the new head football coach and "there appears to be some level of board involvement. I want to avoid all appearances of impropriety. I wholly respect Mr. Campbell, I trust his abilities and he's well-respected in the community."
Campbell could not be reached for comment. It's not clear what the timeline of the investigation will be or whether the results will be released to the public.
Additionally, the board approved the establishment of a community committee to address how to make Rootstown "a better community."
"The term may be 'diversity awareness' or 'cultural competency' but it needs to be creative and we have to own it. We're Rovers. We're Rootstown and I don't want to take a cookie-cutter plan from somewhere else. We have to make it ours and make it fit our community, otherwise it won't be successful," Amanda Waesch said.
The board also requested the involvement of Frank Hairston, Portage NAACP spokesperson and Portage County Mental Health and Recovery Board member who addressed the board that night.
Hairston said he and the NAACP would be willing to work with the district.
"We go in and we’re going to establish and ask questions. NAACP has a process, and we look if there has been a discriminatory act. We ask people what they want. Some people just want NAACP in the room. And sometimes they say I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen to someone else," said Portage NAACP President Geraldine Hayes-Nelson, who was contacted by several Rootstown community members.
Reporter Krista S. Kano can be reached at 330-541-9416, kkano@recordpub.com or on Twitter @KristaKanoRCedu.