3 days ago
Some parents upset after Belle Vernon fires high school baseball coach
Some parents in the Belle Vernon Area School District are angry after the school board decided to let the high school's head baseball coach go.
"I mean, my stomach just like sank, like I couldn't believe it," said Max Gauden, who was on Tony Watson's coaching staff the past season.
"My whole entire household was shocked, with my three boys," said parent Lynn Matusik.
There weren't many empty seats at the board meeting on Tuesday night.
"Personnel is not an item that this board will discuss in public," one of the board members said Tuesday before public comment.
Some parents said the board didn't give them many answers.
"Some of them are on their phones, some of them are staring off into space," Gauden said.
Watson said any sort of explanation he got was very vague.
"Nothing other than potentially parental complaints," he said. "Nine out of 10 times, that boils down to playing time."
Watson's ties to the Leopards run deep.
"Five generations of my family have attended the school district," he said.
It's been tough being fired from his alma mater.
"The last week has been an emotional roller coaster for me," Watson said.
He's been able to find strength in numbers.
"The support he has from all levels, from the parents and his players, is just unreal," Matusik said.
Watson says the board will let him reapply. He plans to do so.
"I hope that good prevails here and I hope to be here for the kids," he said.
KDKA-TV has reached out to the Belle Vernon Area School Board for comment but did not hear back by airtime.
