Coaching staff, teachers and parents advocated for wrestling coach Duane Maurer before the Schuylkill Valley School Board April 24.
The bulk of the meeting was public comment in response to the board deciding to not rehire Maurer as high school wrestling coach for the 2017-18 season.
Maurer was the first of a chain of people to address the board.
“I would like to thank the administration and school board for giving me an opportunity to serve the families of our community for the past 24 years as wresting coach,” said Maurer.
No comments were made on why Maurer was not rehired for the upcoming season.
Following Maurer’s chance at the microphone a train of supportive voices eagerly waited to voice their advocacy for Coach Maurer’s importance to the district and the lives of the students that he has interacted with throughout his 24 years as coach.
“I’m here to direct attention to the board and the administration as to the dismissal of coach Maurer. I have been involved as assistant coach for six years. When Coach Maurer came to me, I felt it an honor to be able to serve on his staff,” said Walter Balkiewicz. “The accusations that are put on that piece of paper are absolutely absurd. I think the witch hunt has to stop in this school district on any coach, and that’s what I believe this is, a witch hunt.”
Various generations of coaching staff were present to advocate for Maurer.
“I first started coaching in 1993 with Duane Maurer,” said Shane Bennett class of 1988.
“Duane taught me how to work with kids, I don’t think I could be a teacher without Duane; he’s one of the most talented educators I’ve ever met, probably the most talented. There’s nobody else I would rather have coach my son than Duane Maurer.”
In addition, non-coaching parents were passionate and firm about how Maurer has positively impacted their families.
“The values, the life lessons, the work ethic that he taught them got them through four grueling years at Division 1 wresting at top-notch institutions,” said Hugh Shaver. “And I don’t think that, if you haven’t been through the wresting program like I have back in the 70s, you don’t know all the extra time that Coach Maurer spent on my kids off-season, weekends, at extra curricular tournaments, it’s incredible the amount of time he spent with them. I think you’re making a big mistake and I’m begging you to reverse this decisions, just for the sake of all the kids coming up through Schuylkill Valley to be helped like my kids were helped by Coach Maurer.”
Similar stories rang throughout the meeting, with parents and students affected by Maurer urging the school board to reconsider their decision to not rehire the Hall of Famed coach.
At the end of the nearly 40 minutes of public testimonies, the board president thanked the public for coming out.
“The public’s opinion is very valuable,” said Board President Kevin Raudenbush. “And we take everything into consideration when making decisions, that’s why we give you the opportunity to speak, we really do appreciate the public’s input. We sat with Mr. Maurer on several occasions and at that point we were not recommending Mr. Maurer for the wrestling coach position. Tonight we’re really not in the position to take any further action, so at this point we’ll continue our conversations on the matter and we are going to have to open up the position or make a decision on where we’re going to go. But those decisions are not to be made this evening.”