BOE investigates baseball
School leaders investigate ineligible players, booster club fund
By Brent Maze and Clif Knight
The Hartselle Board of Education is investigating allegations of playing ineligible baseball players and possible ethics violations tied to the Hartselle baseball booster club.
Superintendent Mike Reed confirmed that he and the board of education are investigating personnel matter, but he could not comment on who the allegations are about at this time.
“Because this involves personnel, I am not at liberty to say specifically who is involved in this investigation,” Reed said. “I’d be violating laws.”
What Reed was able to confirm is that the program used at least one ineligible player and that there could be ethics violations tied to the Hartselle Baseball Boosters account, specifically that “volunteer coaches” and coaches who taught summer baseball camps may have been paid out of this account instead of through the school system’s payroll department.
These violations were brought to the board’s attention during a closed session by Joey and Kristi Jenkins who gave the board information about other ineligible players and bank records from the Hartselle baseball booster club’s account.
Following the meeting, School Board President Jennifer Sittason announced that school board member Monty Vest asked to be excused from the executive session. Vest has family ties to head baseball coach William Booth.
The board took no action after it emerged from the closed session.
The Jenkins are the parents of a former Hartselle baseball player. Kristi Jenkins said that this is not about her son not receiving playing time.
“This isn’t about playing time,” Jenkins said. “It’s all about right and wrong.”
During the Jenkins’ investigations, a bank account was uncovered separate from the baseball booster account managed by Hartselle High School.
Reed confirmed that the baseball boosters had an account through the high school and another account at a different bank, which is not the school system’s approved bank.
“That bank account has been closed as of the June 28,” Reed said. “Our CSFO has balanced the bank records and determined that there is no missing money.”
However, he did indicate that assistant coaches were paid out of that fund, which could result in ethics violations.
Hartselle High School has reported to the Alabama High School Athletic Association that it played an ineligible player on its JV baseball team during the 2011 season.
Principal Jeff Hyche confirmed that the report was filed with the AHSAA office about two weeks ago after an investigation revealed that the player’s eligibility ended when his parents purchased a house and moved out of town while the season was in progress.
“The player was ineligible when his parents moved because he had not been in our school system for nine months,” Hyche said. “We didn’t know that until a parent told us his residence had changed and we investigated and found the report to be true.”
“We take all of the steps necessary at the beginning of the school year to determine a student’s athletic eligibility,” Hyche stated. “Unfortunately, this is a case where a student’s eligibility status changed without us being aware of it.”
Kristi Jenkins added that the board is investigating the eligibility of three other varsity players.
Those currently have not been reported to the Alabama High School Athletic Association.
