001call the meeting in order please SL for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge Alle the United States America stand okay we call the meeting order at 6:32 uh roll call starting with v Joi M Robert Carr Mike Steve kovic okay any amendments to the agenda okay uh approval of minutes anyone make a motion to approve the 611 2024 Board of Ed regular meeting minutes I make a motion I never make a motion there you go okay um second I'll second okay any discussion all those in favor opposed obained motion carries okay at this point uh we'll do audience of citizens if you want to speak please come up to the podium state your name and address my name is Matthew my action is 14 tall drive I'm Connecticut of myself and my recent termination um
002in May uh 21st I was called into the superintendent's office uh I was placed on leave where I was made aware of a DCF investigation um from that point I went uh I was put on leave and I went and I did all my interviews and the investigation process pending my results on last Monday I sent it to Dr Miller saying that I was UN sub iated and everything was all cleared and the email I got back from him was that the Eon was concluded and I was no he was not bringing back next year um from that point I asked for a letter of termination to provide to my lawyer um and then he sent me a letter saying that I was terminated in the middle of the Season following my leave um and
003then I asked for you know we had a conversation and I asked for another letter with an exact date which I have the letters with me so one letter says that I was on leave and it said to you know administrative leave effective immediately to avoid communication attending any events or anything School related which I did and then the next part was I asked for an official date which he gave me which was May 1st so I have a letter saying May 1st I was on leave and then I have a letter from last last Monday which was redated as of Thursday saying that I was terminated May 21st so a conflict of termination versus leave and um I like to say it was wrongful termination investigation oh it's clear the investigation came back unsubstantiated
004and that was when I forwarded to Dr Miller and asked how to proceed and that was when he sent me an email back saying season was over season has concluded so we will not be bringing you back and that's when I asked for an official letter of termination and I didn't have a date on it it said in the middle of the Season which I have them with me I was terminate in the middle of the Season following my suspension on May 21st um and my point to him was if I was suspended and I was put on leave and told not to go to any sports related events or games or anything like that um which I did then you know got to a point where I was in the paper as an interim
005coach and the definition of interim is filling in for an assigned head coach um so if I was terminated on May 1 it should have never said in the paper that I was an intern coach and the results of your the results of comeing back on stage all clear so I'll speak on his father George renoni same address 14es drive if you are put on administratively pending an investigation and he comes back where there's a finding absolutely agree I actually defended Dr Miller when it first happened Matthew put yourself in his spot he got notified by DCF the parents if they had found out that he didn't take action would have been all over him worse than we are your investigation says nothing found zero risk to Miners and he still gets terminated that's just
006not right Dr Miller That's Not Right absolutely wrong you and I might have had issues I might have worked for you shouldn't matter he's done nothing but coach these kids don't take it out talk about how good your season please one person at a time who bot line bottom line is I graduate from o I love oord I believe this color I made a mistake I resigned from my job in Waterberry for this reason and I didn't want anything to come back to here and now I still come back here and the reason being that I'm here is because he said I was guilty on the phone the other day and I said that's not true because in my letter which I have also here it says unsubstantiated which means you're not guilty and the
007law is that you're guilty until proven innocent and I was proven innocent and I just think that it needs to be brought to his attention that I was wrongfully terminated yeah the dates and nothing matches up it's a the situation being phenomenally is fine but the reason I missed the NV championship game which is the second time we've ever been there in school history second time we've ever won right and that's besides the point but I had to sit home and watch the game through an app and I didn't get to see any of them do anything I had to I bald my eyes out on the last out of the game not because I didn't get to be there because I was so happy for them I bleed this school and it wouldn't be
008like me if I just walked away without coming to this meeting trying to stand up for myself if if if you know whatever happens happens but I had to voice myself and I think the support shows okay thank you so the way this works guys is that you go up to the podium you give your name and your address and then there's actually no response from us we're just sor list leito 31 Courtland place um I also would like that Matt mentioned all his years Leo 31 Portland please c r r e t o all your years of service within the town of oxer stepping up to volunteer for positions when they were empty when they were n voy you volunteer to coach soccer you were called to coach the soccer team you were called
009to coach uh B basketball um I I believe there were a few others when in need you were also called to fill in for the ad position when the ad was on leave so all of those things carry weight right his his gratitude and determination and his commitment to this town and to these kids hold a lot of weight these kids wouldn't be sitting here today if it wasn't for him and it wasn't for his dedication to the to these kids and to this town so I think I do think Matt that that is a huge part of what you should also speak on to is your commitment to everything else that you've done not only for the baseball team not only for the school you've also substituted teaching to my knowledge you filled in
010for substitute teaching all of that carries weight and should be thought about um Nick Sero 31 corland Place um I moved here four years ago and coach enzon was my JB coach and then ended up becoming our varsity coach and there's not one person that loves this school and this program more than he does I walked in just thinking as moving here and playing baseball as a stepping stone to college but he allowed me and shed light on what this program is and made me care about the program my teammates and it's not about winning when you play for him it's about representing the name on the front of your jersey before every game he always said you always play for Oxford this is your team this is your town no matter what the outcome
011is make us proud so I don't think anyone would be in a better position to coach this team and I'm graduated he has no this has no um barrier on me but for the sake of Oxford and the sake of the Oxford baseball program which I've been a part of for four years only he showed me what it means to bleed this color and showed me what it means to lead and um lead and be proud of where you come from and also for the team you represent so hi my name is asunta dooso d l l o o and um my three boys played for Oxford High School over 12 years and two years with Matt my oldest played so from the moment Matt graduated I was the president of the Diamond Club for
012my 10 years um or 12 years but the from the moment Matt graduated I can just say that there wasn't a year that he didn't call ask about the team ask about the boys so when she spoke about his character as a community member he loves and cares about the team and like she said not only baseball but soccer whatever he needed to do for the students and the community he did and just from a baseball standpoint I can just tell you there wasn't a year that went by that he didn't check on my boys check on all the other boys and there's other parents here from those years that have come to support him because of that reason like he would come to the games he would ask about him he loved in like
013the student just said I mean these boys were his life and it wasn't just about the game it was about their character about their integrity about all of that and that defines Matt and he carried that into the team and so you know he couldn't love this community so I wanted to come and speak glass 11 SES uh I'm an upcoming senior in this year's class I'm 2025 and for Matthew andon you know I was in fifth grade from when I first met him my brother was on the Great Oak basketball team and I'd go to all the practices I'd go to the games and you know I'd call him my coach you know because I wanted to be on the team the next year and he's really been a role model for me in
014my life all through middle school and now my high school career you know I just want to be able to play my last season with him as my coach you know played I played JB my freshman some of my sophomore year he was my coach the second I heard he was varsity coach this year I was static you know and when I was told he was on leave you know my heart broke not being able to coach us and not being able to be there for our NBL and our States run being able to beat the teams that we lost to in the regular season you know he's he's been an incredible role model for all of us and I just back Joel Lopez addresses 26 Rolling Hills Dry Oxford letter that I wrote so
015on mid-march 2024 and I Was preparing for this year's Oxford High School baseball seed I had no idea whether I make the team or not and I was in a state of limbo for what it was at the time based on my performance I had a gut feeling that I would make the cut so I spent every last minute I could with my teammates knowing that there was a possibility I would get to spend the season and Coach called me over to give me the verdict and tell me that I didn't make the them I was disappointed but I wasn't very surprised I but I was given an opportunity like I've said many times before I was given the opportunity to be a team right there and then I knew that I wanted to take
016that opportunity knowing that I still get to spend every single week with these guys that I care about so much and still get to be there on the baseball field even if I wasn't playing and for that I'm great throughout the season I've learned so much and I've grown not only as a player but as a human being often and to say that I've learned more from being a manager than I have ever had being a player is an understatement I show up to practice almost every single day making my presence useful with posit with a positive attit attitude and a positive work e even if I wasn't practicing with the guys all the time I still wanted to make sure that they I still want to to make sure that they got a good
017practice so that we could be the best version of ourselves but I wasn't just there to help out I was there to learn taking in small key points by listening to coach eisenbach and head coach Von about how to be a better player and how to develop into the player that I wanted to be many don't know that but now I share that with you today by doing so when the news broke out that Ron wouldn't be coming back for an undisposed amount of time all I felt something inside me that that told me that I needed to step up a little more this time around that I needed to be the support that I knew coach wanted me to be and tried and I tried to do just that I wanted to be that
018yelling support in The Dugout cheering on our guys whether it be a base hit a home run or an Incredible play in the field and sure I might have been there just to write down the book and take notes and count pitches but I wanted to make sure that our guys are at their best because personally I feel that I more than any in The Dugout this past season has seen so much frustration and it's understandable but I knew that coach wanted me to be that moral support that they needed and for that I thank him because even though he wasn't there for us that last game of the NV championship in our entire state championship run I knew that in some form or another I needed to fill a void that I at least
019knew I could fill in for the time being that void was to be that fire that ignited these guys every single time they stepped on that field because personally I wouldn't have it any other way give credit where credit is due and I believe that no one deserves more credit than coach for laying down the foundation for a team that most people wouldn't think would even make it to the state finals or win the NF Championship there was something very special about this group of guys this past evening and I think we owe it all we owe a lot of it to our coach coach no matter 132 with [Music] yourone I have since I've been off the board I've SE clear of things is this isn't about me it's about these kids about the
020program and it's about our school if you guys aren't familiar with how DCF Works they have a unit that just investigates cops and teachers okay and that information is highly protected so instances like this don't count the man is cleared he has paperwork to the state and if anybody knows anything about this case other than V them there's a problem it's not right there's the whole point in this country is you're innocent proven guilty okay I didn't know hint Adam when I first heard about this know since I've been in this program I'm in a my field I don't trust anybody okay they're just my job my job is to go find facts I found my facts and I'm convinced and that piece of paper he has from DCF says he could be around kids
021because I can tell you right now DCF they're not doing anybody favors their jobs to dig in and they can D dig in on hears okay so you put yourself in your shoes and anybody on this board can been accused of something like that and you would hope somebody would do their dilig just i' I've gone above and beyond in investigations in my career to make sure I didn't lock up the wrong person and there was a couple times I came very close but I I dug deeper and went the extra mile okay and when you're exonerated you're exonerated unfortunately you know here we are the these kids had and and I get it you know listen when it first came out I'm okay with it s leave but there was a huge voice don't
022let anybody kid you these kids literally had a huge void in and what do you say you want to keep the team on track you want to still have the successful season these kids pulled it out he along with maroli and the seeds at horing put in this program have be fruit for them listen if you I'll tell you right now it wouldn't have been more impactual if we had other coaches but we only have two coaches in this District we put put all this effort into stuff I mean what are we breaking the budget in in our program I mean the sports are gateways to get these kids better education and better exposure in schools do you know how many kids right now are looking at schools and have dreams of going through another
023college and hoping they're getting exposure and all this thing was about was the investigation thank God people I talk to had benefit of the doubt they weren't the judge and jury right out of the gate and that's where we're at now and I'll tell you I'll fight for you thank than Matt Cunningham for Charles Road um I just Echo what Joe had to say and and I'd just like to sum it up in in a request it's a request that the school school board takes appropriate action here to prevent this from happening without Matt renon as head coach of these boys next year this program is in danger of falling apart and we need his leadership and we need him reinstated and we ask the school board to do something about it and do just
024that reading dat thank you thank you uh Ken shova U 27 ancient Highway I've been part of this program um for a long period of time now since the Inception I've known Matt for 13 years now he played with my eldest son and see the growth and development of this young man and his passion for who he are who he is and what he has done um it's not about winning and losing games it's about characters Beyond baseball and you look at these young men standing up for him um it's a testament to who he is and the character that he has now I understand things happened he did the right job um but things have changed he's been cleared so Echo this last gentleman said it's time to make it right we're here here
025for a reason we want to do his right for our Oxford for our kids for our future so it happened he he got cleared of everything we're asking you to do the right thing reinstate Matt Ranson as coach bottom line thank you very much for your time thank you anyone else want to say anything for audience of citizens as per as per board policy we don't have dialogue during the board meeting we will take your words into consideration and we're going to move to the next line item at the end of the meeting we also have an additional spot for audience of citizens so if you stay and you'd like to contribute at that point you can Mike yeah I make motion you can make a motion make a motion to go into executive discuss
026executive session to discuss Personnel matters and invite Dr Miller mik D nor and Coach Von I'll second that any discussion all those in favor I I all those opposed abstained motion carries justd like point out 654 that uh Mr can actually request if this be public if he wishes to yeah and then just so you're aware everything goes on the public right so are we entering executive session or are we not entering executive session if he wants to make it public that's his right okay do we need to add something to the to the agenda we're in executive session do we exit executive session and just well you did go to session so come back you need to come back out and there probably should be there's no official notification to Matt that we're having
027this meeting tonight nor is there an official response from him that he wants an in Open Session right so could would be table and do at the next meeting we could still go into executive session only if he doesn't want to make it public we just we don't that executive we can discuss but I think if we're public there was no written unless he wants to on camera we all rights to notification do not you're gonna pause we're going into executive session only those invited so I'm gonna stop the reporting then