Bolding's appeal of firing set in NLR

District shuns call for larger venue

North Little Rock High School head football coach Brad Bolding is to appear before the School Board at 5:30 p.m. on April 9 to appeal the district's decision to fire him, the coach's attorney said Wednesday.

David Couch, who represents Bolding, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday that the appeal hearing will be in the district's administrative office at 2700 N. Poplar St.

"Unless I can convince them to move it," Couch said. "It's up to their discretion."

The boardroom at the administrative office seats approximately 30, according to the district.

Couch and Bolding have wanted the district to have the hearing in a larger venue so more members of the public can attend, but North Little Rock School District Superintendent Kelly Rodgers said Wednesday that the hearing will not be moved.

"If there's a courtroom-type setting in a bigger venue, there could be disruption," Rodgers said. "That's not the type of setting this is. This is just for the attorneys to provide their information."

Members of the public will be able to watch the meeting via a live video stream in Lakewood Middle School at 2300 Lakeview Road, a few miles away from where the board will meet. The auditorium, which seats 200, and the boardroom will open at 4:30 p.m. April 9, an hour before the meeting. However, members of the public will not be allowed to comment or participate in the meeting, which district officials say could last several hours.

This is the second such appeal for Bolding, who has received two termination notices in the past two months. He received his initial termination notice Jan. 30 and was to have an appeal hearing Feb. 26, but the district submitted another termination notice Feb. 25.

Rodgers said last week that the school district sent the second firing letter so it could introduce new evidence at Bolding's appeal hearing and still abide by the requirements of the Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, which allows school districts to present only evidence of allegations outlined in a teacher's formal termination notice.

Bolding has asked for a public appeal hearing to fight allegations that he violated inventory and purchasing procedures involving more than $230,000. The school district made the allegations in its firing notices.

In the second notice, the school district noted that more than $140,000 of the purchases had been made after district officials reprimanded Bolding in August 2013 for not following purchasing procedures.

Bolding has denied any wrongdoing.

The district also has said Bolding violated the Arkansas Athletic Association's rules on recruiting, specifically contact he had with the family of star wide receiver K.J. Hill. That led the school to forfeit 10 football games and 24 boys basketball games from the 2013-14 academic year, which resulted in the school giving back its Class 7A boys basketball state championship from that year.

The district cited a Feb. 7, 2013, check from the nonprofit NLR Athletic Foundation as proof that Bolding or "a third party with [Bolding's] knowledge" gave money to Montez Peterson, Hill's stepfather, about a month before Hill enrolled in the North Little Rock district as a sophomore. Hill transferred to North Little Rock from Bryant.

Bolding has denied giving Peterson the $600 check. Bolding and Billy Starks, a former NLR Athletic Foundation president, have said Starks gave Peterson the check to pay for supplies for a football-related cookout and other athletic equipment for the team. Peterson was volunteering with the football program at the time, they said.

Last week, Bolding and the NLR Athletic Foundation filed formal ethics complaints against school district administrators.

The foundation filed its complaint with the Arkansas Board of Public Accountancy against Denise Drennan, the school district's chief financial officer. Bolding filed ethics complaints with the Arkansas Department of Education against Drennan, Rodgers, athletic director Gary Davis and human resources director Gregg Thompson.

The complaint to the Education Department accuses the school district of taking disciplinary action and ultimately deciding to fire Bolding in retaliation for questions he raised about athletic spending and the size of the athletic director's office in a new sports complex.

Bolding has not worked at the North Little Rock school since Jan. 16. He received two five-day suspensions on Jan. 20 and Jan. 26, respectively, from Rodgers. A day before he received his first suspension, Bolding interviewed for the vacant Nashville High School head football coaching job, which later went to Mike Volarvich.

Couch said Bolding, who has coached at North Little Rock since 2007, has been in good spirits but is ready for a resolution.

"He's ready to get back to work," Couch said.

Metro on 03/26/2015

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