Kerry Bennett
/ file photo
NORTH SYRACUSE -- After 10 people spoke in support of recently fired softball coach Kerry Bennett at the North Syracuse Central School District school board meeting Monday evening, and the school board refused to revisit the situation, athletes (both former and current), parents, and fellow coaches were outraged.
"They didn't even care," Kim Schweitzer-Aupperle, Cicero-North Syracuse assistant varsity softball coach, says. "They didn't even care what they did to everybody's life around here."
Those who spoke to the board said the district's decision to fire the coach was hastily made, and not thorough enough to result in a job termination.
"People were shocked at how quickly the district arrived at a decision," Tracey Roman, a former player and current Baldwinsville High School softball coach, says.
Amidst shouts from the more than one hundred people in attendance, school board President Pat Carbone said that the people that did the investigation were indeed thorough and fair. Laughter from the crowd followed that statement, and because there was so much outcry, he threatened to empty the room.
After Carbone was finished with his response, and said they were moving on to other topics, those in support of Bennett left the room.
Outside the meeting, athletes and other supporters wearing white shirts in support of Bennett were in tears as they realized their efforts were futile.
"They're treating the community like a bunch of children," says Bill Bradley, a former JV softball coach.
Bradley was one of the many outraged who said they will continue to fight for Coach Bennett, vowing to speak at the next board meeting and bringing more supporters in the future.
