Departure of long time Charles City coach solicits mixed emotions from public

Edited by Jeff Chamberlain due to subject matter.

The departure of a long-time coach and athletic director at Charles City High School has solicited a variety of mixed emotions from the public during Charles City’s School Board Aug. 19 meeting.

Andre’ Jones, who served as athletic director for the last eight years and has coached a variety of sports for the last 22 years, announced his departure from the school system on July 21 through a social media post.

Jones cited a decision made by Charles City’s School Board during their July 15 meeting where he indicated that the school board elected to retain him as the athletic director but not as the head indoor and outdoor track and field coach. In Jones’ social media post, he expressed confusion on the decision.

“I am dumbfounded, confused, and still stunned that this decision was made,” Jones said in his July 21 post. “I have the capability to serve as the athletic director but not the head track and field coach?”

Jones said that he was informed of the decision by the high school administration but never received a thorough reason on why it was made.

“I just don’t get it,” he added.

The post garnered attention from several people as his success as a track coach was noted. Jones produced two state champions in 2021 and a state runner-up this past season.

A bigger than usual crowd attended Tuesday night’s meeting with varying opinions on Jones’ performance.

“Throughout the years, policy has changed back and forth as to whether an athletic director can coach,” commented Lauren Wood, who served as Charles City’s Athletic Director for seven years. “I believe it has been shown time and time again that it is a very effective practice for Charles City High School and Andre’ Jones continues to fulfill both his athletic director and coaching duties without bias.

“Even if you have found a teacher/coach for Charles City for the next year, do they have the experience Coach Jones has?” she continued. “Do they plan on investing years as coach to continue to build a strong program and build positive relationships?

“I would hate to see all that hard work and dedication that has been put into the revamp of the athletic department just to be thrown out because of one decision,” Wood concluded.

Former school board member Martha Harris spoke about her involvement at track meets and the reception from other schools who come to it.

“How many employees in the school division serve as bus drivers, teachers, teacher aides, drivers, and cafeteria staff in a dual role?” she commented. “How many have served as supervisor and employee in the same area?”

Harris went on to point out the compliments from other schools at big track events and compliments from parents.

“I have never heard a parent complain when he [Jones] takes kids offsite to competitions overnight, and most of these individuals are female.

Ka’Sheena Allen commented that it was time for a change at the athletic director position and supported the decision of the school board.

“He has given over 20 years to make changes and things in the best interest of all athletes, and I felt like that time was gone,” Allen added. “The program needs help and if our athletic director was so focused on the program, he would have not chosen the option to resign. He would have stayed and chosen to build an entire sports program.”

Jones did not attend the meeting due to a conflict of interest but did release a statement regarding comments about him being focused on only track and field.

“A comment was made that I focused on track and field mainly and not other sports,” he said. “That statement is somewhat true but not all factual.”

Jones elaborated, posting how he used funds from track meets to offset costs for other sports due to poor attendance and revenue, emphasizing the difficulty to run athletics without proper funding.

“Understand that money from track and field was used to pay for the items for other sports due to those sports not producing revenue. If a sport cannot produce revenue, then money can’t be spent. The school board paid for transportation, security, stipends, and big-ticket items through the CIP.

“Money for equipment was not budgeted for a yearly allowance for items, despite me putting together a budget request every year,” he continued. “The equipment for sports had to be paid for by the athletic department.”

Jones said that upgrades to facilities are controlled by the director of operations. He added that he only earned $10,000 a year for serving as the school’s athletic director the last two years.”

“All I wanted was an explanation why I couldn’t do both, and I never received that,” the former athletic director concluded.

Charles City School Board chairman Rodney Tyler read a prepared statement regarding the decision at the end of the meeting.

“While I understand this last month has been emotional for several people, at this time the school board is moving forward with this decision and doing what’s best for the students,” he read.

After the meeting, Kenneth Briddell, who coaches at King & Queen, provided a comment after he was denied the request to speak at the public comment on Jones’ behalf.

“I was disappointed as he has given a boost of morale and help with other programs with the money that comes from the invitationals,” he said. “So, it’s not just the track program he was helping at Charles City.”