North Little Rock School District officials said late Wednesday that they were sending a second termination notice to high school head football coach Brad Bolding that will include new information that's surfaced over the past few weeks.
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The district announced the decision as it canceled a special meeting of the North Little Rock School Board that was scheduled for today to decide whether Bolding would be fired.
In a written statement, Superintendent Kelly Rodgers said the district made the decision on the advice of its attorney, Jay Bequette.
"Our legal counsel has advised us to reissue a termination recommendation for Brad Bolding so that all findings gathered during the course of the investigation may be presented to the District School Board at the hearing," Rodgers said in the statement.
The district gave Bolding a notice of termination on Jan. 30 that cited four reasons to justify his firing. Bolding appealed the decision and requested the special board meeting.
Under the Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, the district would have been confined to presenting only evidence of those violations during Bolding's appeal hearing.
In an interview, Rodgers said he couldn't say what new information the district will include in the new termination letter, saying he couldn't discuss a "personnel matter."
Rodgers said the information came to the district's attention after the initial termination notice was sent to Bolding. Rodgers said the new letter will be sent out this morning.
"When they receive it, they're welcome to share it, but we cannot at this point," Rodgers said, referring to Bolding and his attorney.
David Couch, Bolding's attorney, said the district didn't inform him of its decision until shortly before it released a public statement.
"They called me 10 minutes before you called me, and I was shocked," Couch said about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday. "We were more than ready and prepared to move forward tomorrow. What this tells me is they've studied the four reasons they listed and decided they're not legitimate reasons for his termination."
Couch said he plans to appeal the latest notice of termination.
"I hope the letter doesn't include anything that would be considered retaliation for anything we've said since they sent the first termination letter," Couch said. "I've reviewed thousands of emails, his complete personnel file and interviewed many witnesses, and I have no idea what they think they could use as a basis of termination."
In its original termination notice, the district accused Bolding of failure to follow district purchasing and inventory procedures regarding athletic equipment, failure to comply with the district's policy for disposal of personal property and unprofessional conduct regarding a Facebook posting in November.
The district also accused Bolding of giving a $600 check in February 2013 to Montez Peterson, the stepfather of star wide receiver K.J. Hill, before Hill was enrolled in the district.
Hill was a standout wide receiver at North Little Rock for two seasons. He signed a national letter of intent Feb. 4 to play at Ohio State University after rescinding his commitment to the University of Arkansas in January.
The district cited the $600 check in documents it turned over to the Arkansas Activities Association to justify forfeiting 10 football games and at least 24 boys basketball games, including the Class 7A boys basketball state title, because of an ineligible player.
Bolding denies giving Peterson the check. He also has challenged the evidence the district submitted to the AAA, saying the district didn't present the full picture in an attempt to bolster its decision to fire him.
Information for this article was contributed by Jeremy Muck of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 02/26/2015