Fort Smith Superintendent Thumbs Nose At Grievance Process….Moves Ahead With Plan To Hire New Coach
Jan 22, 2025
Back on December 11th I brought you the story of Fort Smith Northside Head Football Coach Felix Curry being terminated from that position without being given a reason.
I followed that story with three more detailing the progression of disturbing events and actions involving Coach Curry’s case….See Links.
http://arkansas1st.com/state/fort-smith-school-board-dishonest-unethical-incompetent-all-three/
http://arkansas1st.com/state/termination-of-coach-curry-just-how-black-white-is-it/
That progress trend continues so I’m back to get you updated.
Let me start by reminding you that on December 5th, the very day Coach Curry was terminated as Head Football Coach, the District posted that position on their website Jobs Listing page.
Now under State Law AR Code 6-17-208 – Grievance Procedure, states – “Each school district shall have a written grievance procedure that provides for an orderly method of resolving concerns raised by an employee at the lowest possible administrative level and in a clear and timely manner for both parties.”
It further states –“ All school employees shall have the right to file grievances and have those grievances heard.”
Link for 6-17-208
According to Coach Curry’s attorney, Joey McCutchen, on December 11th his client filed a grievance with the District against Superintendent Terry Morawski and Assistant Superintendent Chris Davis for violating State Law in terminating and reassigning Coach Curry.
By State Law if the grievance cannot be resolved by Coach Curry’s immediate supervisor nor the Superintendent, he has the right to present his grievance to the School Board where they can decide its fate….That process has yet to run its course.
The reality is that Coach Curry’s grievance being resolved at the Administrative level is Slim to None.
The direction this is heading is to the Board. In fact, at the December 16th School Board meeting, Board President Dalton Person pretty much assured McCutchen that the Board would hear his client’s grievance.
Now you would think with the grievance in place and heading to a Board meeting, Morawski would make the prudent decision to pull the job listing and put taking applications on hold until the grievance has been resolved one way or the other right ?….Unless the Board has already made a secret decision to deny Coach Curry’s grievance no matter the facts presented to them.
Surely that is not the case….On second thought, let’s lose the word surely and replace it with “Maybe”.
History has shown Morawski to be a failure at prudency so it should be no shock that the job listing was not pulled and put on hold….It ran until January 13th.
I submitted a Freedom of Information request to Morawski for all the applications submitted for the position. Despite stall tactics by the District’s attorney, Marshall Ney, the Arkansas Attorney General issued an opinion that the District had to release the records to me.
The records show that the District received 23 applications for the position. The following is a list of who all applied.
Now it’s not only unfair to Coach Curry for the District to move forward in the hiring process with his grievance still pending, but also to the applicants.
You don’t have to pay the weird lady with the crystal ball at the county fair money to look into the future and see that if the Board doesn’t find in favor of Coach Curry, a lawsuit will be filed, and a Sebastian County Circuit Judge will decide this.
Once filed, it could take quite a bit of time before the trial would even take place, so if the District fills the position and the Judge rules in Coach Curry’s favor, I’m certain there will be an order by the Judge to reinstate him as Head Football Coach….So where would that leave the person who the District hired to replace Coach Curry ?
That question has an easy answer….without the Head Coaching job.
Does anyone believe the District has made the applicants aware of this potential fall off the cliff ???….I think you know my answer.
Let’s bring that word “prudent” back into play.
If I were one of the applicants, I would be thinking it would be…prudent…to not accept an offer or maybe even pull my application until this has been fully litigated….but that’s just me.
#FactsNotFiction
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moc.oohay@nivac.eimmij
Professional Bully Fighter I investigate and report on issues around the State of Arkansas with an emphasis on Government. I am strong conservative however I bring Truth and Facts regardless of Party affiliation….My hashtag is #FactsNotFiction
One of these applicants is a current Middle School Coach in FSPS district. He came from a high school in TX (my understanding) and is a very “old school” coach. (Which is both a positive and a negative). For me, I wonder if there was a succession plan in place before the wheels were set in motion Dec 5? Considering the questionable leadership I have observed in our Administration and Athletic Department, I think this thought warrants investigation.