T IMES
SOUTHERN
ULSTER
Vol. 15, No. 6
3
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2018
ONE DOLLAR
Dukes down
Huskies
Page 36
Pages 18-19
SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH AND PLATTEKILL
Players plea for coach’s job
Ward supporters urge school board to reconsider his job status
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
At last week’s well-attended
Marlboro School Board meeting, every
speaker, except one, defended Varsity
Football Coach Rich Ward, who was
recently informed that he would not
be rehired to his position this fall. The
overwhelming response from the public
was for the School Board to reinstate
Ward to his position in Marlboro.
The school board fired Ward because
of a series of harsh texts between him
and a mother of a football player on
whether her son would be attending
the annual football dinner in December.
After being called a “jerk” in a text
Ward’s response was, “Ma’am, you
can go to hell and kiss my a**.” He
later apologized for his remarks, which
he admitted were inappropriate. The
public told the school board that this
momentary transgression should not be
cause to remove him nor denigrate the
positive influences that he has had upon
his players for the past eight years.
This latest dust up comes after a
2014 lawsuit that was filed by several
players against Coach Ward, former
Superintendent Ray Castellani and the
school district in U.S. District Court.
At that time Ward was alleged to have
verbally and physically abused some
of his football players while the former
Superintendent knew about it and failed
to take any action to stop it. Though a
judge later dismissed the lawsuit, the
school board warned Ward that any
inappropriate conduct moving forward
would not be tolerated.
During public input at last week’s
board meeting, the father of Noah
3
Plattekill
signs up
with
county
agencies
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
Marlboro Football Coach Rich Ward admitted mistakes that he has made and promised to
take any corrective action the board suggests. Kim McKeon, who was involved in a texting
conflict with Ward, stands behind him and urged the board to keep him on as coach. Also
lending support was Ulster County Legislator Richard Gerentine.
Fedora said his son’s diagnosis of
epilepsy caused him to quit playing
football. He later joined the track team,
which given his medical condition, is a
far safer sport for him. On numerous
occasions Ward pressured his son to
rejoin the football team. When Noah
backed out of a meeting with the team’s
leader out of concern for his health,
Fedora said Ward called his son, “a piece
of garbage for not coming to the meeting
and he wouldn’t want anyone like that
on his team anyway.” Noah’s father said
this had a devastating effect upon his
Continued on page 5
WWW.SOUTHERNULSTERTIMES.COM
The
Plattekill
Town
Board
unanimously approved agreements
between the Town and the Ulster County
Emergency Response Team [UCERT] as
well as the Ulster County Regional Gang
Enforcement Narcotics Team [URGENT].
The agreements have been proposed by
the Office of the Ulster County District
Attorney and the Office of the Ulster
County Sheriff.
UCERT is responsible for rapid
tactical responses to critical incidents
and URGENT investigates criminal and
violent activities of gang members and
their affiliates, narcotic offenses and the
possession and sale of illegal firearms.
Supervisor Joe Croce said the full
Town Board and Police Chief Joseph Ryan
have reviewed the cooperative agreements
and have urged their approval. Complete
copies of the agreements can be reviewed
at the Town Clerk’s office at Town
Hall.
Continued on page 4