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Updated: October 16, 2022 @ 2:01 pm
Oswego varsity girls basketball coach Joe Babcock speaks at the Oswego City School District’s Board of Education meeting Tuesday.
Oswego varsity girls basketball coach Joe Babcock speaks at the Oswego City School District’s Board of Education meeting Tuesday.
OSWEGO — Oswego High School varsity girls basketball coach Joe Babcock will be back at the helm for the Buccaneers this next season, after Board of Education officials voted 5-1 to confirm his appointment Wednesday morning in a special meeting.
Babcock’s appointment follows a community-led rally to keep him on the coach’s chair that featured players expressing their support for the coach during Tuesday’s Board of Education public comment meeting. Executive Oswego City School District (OCSD) staff recommended a different coaching staff for the upcoming season, but that recommendation was struck down at the meeting via a 5-2 vote with only Board President Lisa Glidden and Board member Pamela Dowd favoring the new coaching pick.
“I didn’t sleep much last night,” Babcock told The Palladium-Times Wednesday. “I think I’m just physically and mentally exhausted right now from all the emotions and everything that transpired from the rally organized by the community and the girls.”
In addition to the rally, OCSD parent Jenna Kuzawski organized an online Change.org petition in support of Babcock last Friday, when the Board of Education agenda for Tuesday’s meeting was released. In her petition, which garnered close to 1,000 signatures, Kuzawski said Babcock has “rebuilt this program from the ground up” since taking over varsity coaching duties in 2019.
Players’ speeches, alongside community support during Tuesday’s meeting, were moving, Babcock said.
“It was a difficult night,” he said. “It was a night that I never asked for, but now my focus is on being the girls varsity basketball coach. Nothing but positive going forward.”
Ultimately, the news of his appointment made Babcock happy.
“I’m happy to help the school district in any way they need, and I’m looking forward to continuing the success we had in the summer.”
For Glidden, who was the lone “no” vote Wednesday, appointing Babcock after the recommendation from executive staff is a “subversion of the process.”
“We have a process in place,” she said. “We have administrators who vetted candidates for the position, made their recommendation, and we are not listening to their recommendation. We are undermining our staff if we do that.”
One of Glidden’s concerns also surrounds comments made by community members regarding the district’s initial pick for the coaching position.
“I was concerned that, in the online petition and the public comment section of the meeting, there were baseless claims of nepotism that have to do with skin color and place of origin,” she said. “They are baseless claims but they were repeated uncritically in public spaces by people and that was very concerning.”
Students, Glidden added, should be encouraged by adults in the district to overcome anxiety.
“Last night was challenging to see those students who were upset and feeling anxiety,” she said. “We need to remind ourselves as the adults and models of behavior, that all of the adults in our community need to help our students to deal with anxiety, turbulence and uncertainty because students are going to face it. If we fan the fuels of that anxiety for them, it makes things worse.”
Newly elected Board member Heidi Sweeney spoke in support of Wednesday’s appointment of Babcock as coach.
“I wouldn’t want the public or administrative team to make presumptions about why we voted the way we did. We have different reasons,” she said. “(When it comes to personnel) we cannot speak about things in public because of the law and appropriateness. I do support (Superintendent Mathis Calvin’s) desire to move this forward and focus on reopening schools successfully in September.”
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