Community members plead with board to rehire Kelly High School principal

Several community members on Tuesday, March 14 pleaded with Scott County R-4 "Kelly" Board of Education members to consider hiring back Dan Hecht as the high school principal for the 2023-2024 school year.

During its Feb. 15 monthly meeting, the school board, in a vote of 7-0, accepted Hecht's resignation effective at the end of the school year. As news of Hecht's resignation spread throughout the district, Kelly alumni, parents, students and past and present educators took to social media to share their reactions of disbelief, sadness and anger over the longtime principal's sudden departure.

An online petition via change.org garnered more than 300 signatures in support of Hecht, who has served as Kelly High School's principal for 14 years and was one school year away from retirement. Facebook users created an event, "Rally for Dan Hecht", which encouraged supporters to attend the board of education's next regular meeting, which was Tuesday. Hecht's supporters allege he was "forced" to resign by Superintendent Bradley Kolwyck and the school board.

A crowd of nearly 100 community members gathered for Tuesday's school board meeting with the majority there to show support for Hecht, who was not present. Per board policy, attendees were allowed to participate in the public comment portion of the meeting.

Eight individuals signed up to address the board. Among the first on the list was Randy Swope, whose son graduated from Kelly High School a couple years ago. Swope also served as Kelly Booster Club president for two years.

"As you can see by the turnout, the community is not real satisfied," Swope told the board. "You let the best principal in the state leave Kelly High School. We all read the report where it says Mr. Hecht resigned under his own power, but everybody in this gym knows that's not the truth. ... Every parent would want him to guide and mentor their children throughout their high school curriculum. To let him go is absurd. Mr. Hecht has always led by example and he's never wavered. He is our rock."

Swope told the school board members he had one question for them: Who's next? He said one faculty member questioned their decision to remove Hecht and is now on their "hit list."

"Kelly has an anti-bullying policy for its students, but it's sad to know that this school board uses bullying as its business model," Swope said. "This board is in place to do what is in the best interest of the students, the faculty and the taxpayers within this district, and I can safely say that each one of you has failed miserably. You are to be our voice. You are not on this board for self gain, your personal agenda or bias. The decisions you've made has forever tainted your reputation in this community. The trust and integrity that you once had in this district are gone. You failed us. You failed the kids, and you turned your back on the very man who had yours for the last 14 years.

Swope continued: "We don't need you anymore. You think you have the power now, but through the election process, we'll be taking that power back. We will make it where our faculty has the freedom of voicing their opinion without fear of repercussion. We will make it where our children aren't intimidated because the viewpoints of their parents differ from that of this board. We will bring back freedom of speech, and we will bring Kelly back to where it used to be -- and all of this will be done without the likes of you. This is the most pathetic board I have ever dealt with, and I am ashamed that you represent Thomas Kelly High School. But you hear me tonight: Your day is coming. This, I promise."

Former Kelly school board member and parent Robby Lemonds told the board how he was recently at the mall where he was questioned about what was going on at Kelly schools.

"He said: 'Man, I don't know what's going on down there, but Mr. Hecht is the reason I graduated high school. I dropped out. He called me day in and day out -- me and my mom -- to try and get us to come and meet with him,'" Lemonds said.

For Lemonds, he said everything comes down to common sense.

"We don't know what you guys know," Lemonds told the board. "We don't know what Mr. Hecht knows. We don't know the situation, right? So, when you sit here as a taxpayer and concerned person, you say: 'Man, what happened?'... So we can only assume and draw conclusions that at the end of the day, if a man can finish the year out and not get fired, then why can't he finish another year? If a man did something that deserves to be fired, why wasn't he fired?"

"I don't know that we'll get the answers we want," he said. "I don't think we'll get to hear what we want to hear. We think we should get to know."

Kelly alum and parent Nicole Buck told the board how her daughter, who is on the autism spectrum, graduated from Kelly. She praised Hecht for being "amazing" to her daughter.

"No matter how busy he was, he took the time out. If she had a meltdown, he was always there to find out why, fix the issue, calm her down and communicate with me," Buck said.

In her opinion, Buck said, Hecht is the best principal Kelly has ever had.

"I don't understand what's going on," Buck said to the board. "We want answers. ... So, are we going to find out anything?"

"We will answer those questions at a later time," Board President David Brashear told Buck.

Jim Urhahn, also a Kelly alum and parent of a recent Kelly graduate, began his comment by listing the names of eight teachers and coaches who have recently resigned from Kelly schools. He said they have one common denominator: the superintendent and the school board.

"Dan Hecht has been the man for this school for 14 years," Urhahn said. "He went through protests. He went through deaths. A boy was killed on this campus, and his parents have told me how great Mr. Hecht was to them. He's been through COVID. He's been through the online school. He's been through the six feet apart. He's been through the masks. All that stuff, but this last year, you're gonna send him gone. Come on. You've the got the power to reverse it. You've got it."

Hecht was great, Urhahn said. "There's countless people that have notes from the man, and he encouraged these children," Urhahn said. "If they were going to quit school, he went out and chased them down. He said: 'No. Come back in here. Come to my office. You're gonna graduate. I'm gonna get you through this.'

Benton Mayor Jim Simmons, who is also a Kelly alum, former Kelly school board member and whose children graduated from Kelly, addressed the board.

"I served on the Kelly school board for nine years and during that time, we hired Mr. Hecht. There's no doubt in my mind that this guy was the best for this school," Simmons said. "With that being said, I know I served over a board where one time we fired a very popular coach, and the people let us know very quickly that was the wrong decision."

Simmons encouraged the board to "do the right thing."

"I know the school boards are good. I have the utmost respect for anybody who puts their neck out there like you are, but, sometimes, you get it wrong," Simmons said.

Lance Powers, who is the head football coach and physical education coach for Kelly, also asked the board to reconsider Hecht's resignation.

"I know you can go back. I know you can put it back to a vote," Powers said. "It only takes one of you to make a motion to put it back up. Reconsider Dan Hecht's resignation. Somebody second it, and it go from there. That's all I ask tonight is to reconsider Dan Hecht."

Powers, who said he's served in the military, told the board in the last 11 years, he's never had a leader like Hecht.

"The man is all about the children, looking for the good in every child and wanting all these children to succeed," Powers said. "... When he told me in January that he was getting ready to get voted out, I was in in disbelief. How can you have a man who's spent 14 years at Kelly school now get ready to be kicked out with one year left before he reaches retirement."

Tim McGuire Sr., former assistant football coach, was the last person to make a public comment at Tuesday's meeting. McGuire said he's had the opportunity in his life to be associated with a lot of people in education on multiple levels.

"As a recruiter, you don't just talk to the coach," McGuire said. "You talk to the principal. You talk to the secretary. You talk to other people in the building so that you figure out what kind of quality kid you're recruiting so that you know what that kid is all about."

Following the open session, the board went into a closed session. The board did not take action to restore Hecht's job, according to the superintendent.