There is nothing in life more important than the health, safety, and well-being of our children.

 That statement comes with no caveats, asterisk, notation or exception.  When a parent entrusts their child to the care of another, especially into the care of school employees, they do so with the expectation that this tenet will be followed.

When I first heard of what took place in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I was like any reasonable person … outraged, and disgusted.  What happened is a horrible thing that deserves to happen to no one, least of all a child under the care of school employees.

The story of what took place belonged in a movie about life inside a violent prison not in a story about a high school basketball tournament.

Next in my head was a series of swirling questions about how exactly things played out because the facts of who did what and when they did it to this very day are hazy at best.  In spite of those questions in my head I did not question the actions of the Hamilton County School System.  I admit I did wonder if the students involved were being adequately supervised.  However, my better judgement said that you can’t watch them every second of every day and this was probably an incident that quickly escalated and got out of hand.

Today, however, my head is in a whole different place.

On Thursday charges were filed against the Ooltewah coaches and athletic director for failing to report the incident to the Department of Children Services, something they all knew was required by law.  On Friday it was revealed that Superintendent Rick Smith notified the School Board about the assault two days after the assault occurred but only after being notified that a reporter was asking questions.

To me, these revelations are more telling than any of the other previously questionable behavior. 

All of this adds up to one simple conclusion in my mind.  It’s time for Rick Smith to step down.

It’s also time for those coaches to be replaced.  As I said at the onset there is nothing more important than the health, safety, and well-being of our children.  This includes basketball games.  This includes the employment of our superintendent. 

When the coaching staff learned of this violent assault the basketball tournament trip should have ended immediately.  Yet, allowing the team to remain in a situation that had clearly devolved to a point of no control pales in comparison with failing to report the incident to the Department of Children Services.

For his part Rick Smith should have notified the School Board immediately with the complete facts of what took place as he knew them.   Instead he waited until after reporters came knocking and then only supplied some stripped down version that made what happened seem like a “boys will be boys” incident that got out of hand.

Then it was reported by some media sources that the program had a history of hazing.  Suddenly, reports began coming in of others being bullied or hazed in other programs at other schools in the district.  Yet, Superintendent Smith’s focus has been on making sure people knew there was no evidence the coaching staff committed any wrongdoing.

Our children deserve a superintendent that puts their safety as priority one.  When this incident came to light every effort should have been made to keep the School Board completely informed of what was going on while investigating what happened and what actions were taken by the coaching staff.  While that investigation was ongoing, the staff being investigated should have been reassigned or temporarily suspended to ensure the investigation remained untainted.

As a parent I want a superintendent that even while standing under the giant cloud of a potential lawsuit is willing to be an advocate for our children.  Someone who is willing to ask the tough questions to ensure that the underlying seed for what eventually took place in the Ooltewah incident didn’t exist within any other club or sports program in the district.  He should have been calling for people with knowledge of hazing, bullying or abuse to come forward so light could be shined in all the dark corners and any other problems dealt with before they became major incidents.

Mr. Superintendent if you can’t put the health, safety, and well-being of our children at the forefront of what you do every day it’s time to say goodbye and start looking for a new job.