Last week’s edition had some ugly news stories. Two of them concerned coaches who were not men of honor when dealing with their students. Another was about a police officer whose misdeeds were made very public.
The coaches had been at Geary and Watonga, respectively, and there were some questions about why I was writing about it now. It had been some time ago, after all. The coach at Watonga was in the news about six months ago on an Oklahoma City news station.
There are a couple of reasons why now. One, the news report six months ago, I just missed. I didn’t see it. So If he left, why does it matter here, now?
Same thing in Geary. If the coach left a while back, why does it matter now that he has been arrested?
In both instances, it matters because it could have happened here, too. There might be students out there who didn’t report an incident out of fear or shame. Maybe they did report it to superintendents or cops who are no longer on the job in our towns. Those students need to know they can speak now, without fear or shame. They need to know the matter will be investigated and justice served.
And the parents, students, boards need to be reminded we may be small towns in a sparsely populated county, but it can happen here. Without laser focus on prevention, on protecting our students, the bad actors can lie their way into our schools as easily as they do elsewhere.
I fully believe in each instance the schools are now under the leadership of superintendents who are well aware how easily the predators can take up residence in plain sight and do a world of harm. That doesn’t mean the previous supers didn’t feel that way. It means the investigative resources are better, the lines that shall not be crossed are clearer. Everything is better defined for the students, the teachers and coaches, the superintendents and law enforcement.
Speaking of law enforcement, the officer in question was fired. What irks me is that the TV news from the city made it sound like the reason was an allegation of an affair. The facts are it was much more complicated than that. The Geary PD has been a quagmire of short term hires, not enough personnel, and a budget that never seemed sufficient but was always one of the largest in the city. Investigations into reported crimes went nowhere or were dropped altogether. Morale was in the basement.
Now the leadership in the department and the city is changing. Hopes are to start with a fresh slate, keep the good officers – and there are plenty of good ones in Geary – and start operating the entire town like a business. Election day is April 4. There is a Geary mayoral candidate forum at 6 p.m. March 30, if you are undecided. Maybe the town can get its disfunction corrected and move ahead. Here’s hoping.