'You should be ashamed'; parents demand action at Shelby County School Board meeting

A school board meeting turned tense on Thursday night, as the room, filled with parents, staff, and former students, demanded answers in an ongoing sexual misconduct investigation.

"I'm Shay McAlister, and this is Shay Informed: an independent, ad-free platform dedicated to honest journalism with compassion and clarity.

Are you new here? Sign up for the free weekly newsletter or subscribe to support our mission and access behind-the-scenes content, podcasts, and in-depth stories reserved for paid subscribers.

On the same day of Martha Layne Collins Basketball Coach Chris Gaither's suspension, the Shelby County Public School Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting. And the board was met with major pushback from parents, former students, and staff.

"I am here today because I am absolutely horrified by the way this has been handled by this district," one parent said to the board.

After the 15-minute public comment period ended, the Board Member Joanna Freels attempted to wrap up the subject by saying, "We appreciate you all voicing your opinion. We don't ever answer questions. After we meet, we'll discuss things after the meeting."

Superintendent Dr. Joshua Matthews also tried to weigh in, saying they would be transparent when possible, but was cut off by outbursts from the crowd. "You just said you're not answering questions, how is that transparent?" one woman shouted.

Freels said, "ok, we'll just move", which was then met with even louder contempt. Parents shouting, "We're not moving on", and "You can't just move on from this."

The frustration comes after parents learned a teacher and coach who was under investigation for sexual misconduct and inappropriate communication with students was not immediately removed from having contact with students.

‘He has been able to hide for so long’; Shelby Co. Schools suspends coach after sexual misconduct allegations

A former team manager told me her relationship with Chris Gaither began while she was a student at Martha Layne Collins High School. “He has been able to hide for so long under the assumption that he is a good Christian pillar of this community, and I think it was

Shay InformedShay McAlister

This is the second time Gaither has been under investigation for these kinds of allegations in the last 30 days; the first investigation was closed after board attorneys found no evidence of wrongdoing, according to a district spokesperson.

The investigation was "reopened", according to district officials, on December 5th, the day after Hayley Weddle, a 2014 graduate of the school, submitted a written statement to district leaders detailing her interactions with Gaither when she was a student and team manager.

She waited for for five days, for an update from the school district. But when she learned Gaither was coaching a basketball game Tuesday night, she decided to share her written statement public publicly.

"I had tried to go through the appropriate channels, but it did not feel like they were going to do anything. It felt like it would be swept under the rug, as it has been before", she told me.

That's when things changed. Within hours, Gaither was put on suspension.

Thursday night, hours after the suspension went into effect, parents wanted to hear from the school board about the investigative process. They wanted to weigh in on the policy and even suggested changes.

Some of those suggestions include: commission an independent investigation into how past and recent allegations have been handled, publicly close the post-graduation loop-hole like other districts have done, explicitly define grooming behaviors to include more than just sexual misconduct, require annual public reporting of all misconduct investigations, including the district's timelines.

"Secrecy is what allows abuse to thrive," Wills-Coppelman said as a speaker in front of the board, "choose to act before another student is harmed."

The board would not engage with the speakers by answering questions or providing any explanations. "We have to go on," Board Member Freels said when the meeting derailed again about 40 minutes into it.

At this point much of the crowd left the meeting, while the board continued.

"No one cares about anything else you have to say, " one woman said on the way out.

Shelby County Schools confirmed Gaither is suspended with pay pending the outcome of their investigation. Officials have not provided a timeline for when that investigation might conclude or what specific allegations they're examining beyond Weddle's statement.

I have reached out to each of the board members since the meeting ending asking for more information on

• the community's response and concerns
• What the board can and cannot share at this stage of the investigation
• The timeline moving forward
• How the district plans to communicate with families and address community concerns

If you have specific questions for the board- please send them my way! You can email me at shay@shayinformed.com

Like what you see? Learn more about Shay Informed here! This is honest journalism with compassion and clarity.