Support for fired Danville High School football coach Clay Clevenger is not going away as shown by remarks from community members and school alumni at Monday’s Danville Board of Education meeting. Clevenger was fired 2 1/2 weeks ago when Superintendent Tammy McDonald told him she wanted to go a “different direction” with the football program that won a state title in 2017 and has sent 35 players to play college football in the last seven years.
Thirteen people spoke at Monday’s Board meeting either supporting Clevenger or on the demise of the school system under McDonald — or both.
Will Kirk, a 2015 Danville graduate, said he normally does speak out and knew nothing he said would “move the needle” with the school board but that he wanted a “clear conscience” to know he did everything he could for the man who meant so much to him.
Kirk said he was a fourth-generation Admiral but that “me and my teammates were eaten up with excuses and riding the coattails of past state titles” before Clevenger took over as coach seven years ago. He recalled Danville beating Somerset in 2013 for the first time since 2005 and he realized then what a “positive culture” Clevenger had created. Kirk said he was studying overseas in 2017 when Danville won the state title and he cried “tears of pride and joy” over the win.
However, here was the part that jumped out at me from this young man who now lives in Louisville.
“The last part hurts me but if I was raising a family in Danville right now I would have a hard time letting them know what it feels like to be a fifth-generation Admiral,” Kirk said.
Former player Damon Jackson said he struggled academically before Clevenger and his staff helped him get his act together.
“I didn’t have men in my life. I was buck wild,” Jackson said. “All I wanted to do was play football and could have cared less about school. My coaches helped change that (and helped him get to college).”
Kirby Harrison Alcorn, a 2018 grad, was student body president, played two sports, and was a manager on the 2017 state championship football team. She’s now in college studying to be a special education teacher and said McDonald had “let go” many of those at Danville who inspired her to be a teacher.
Her brother, Joseph, was a 2016 DHS grad and class president for four years. He’s also a 2020 West Point graduate. Their father played on Danville’s 1984 state title team.
Kirby Alcorn read a letter from her brother thanking Clevenger for not “giving up on me” in high school.
Amy Williams, the mother of a junior football player, called it “appalling” that there had been “zero communication” with players or assistant coaches from the administration since Clevenger’s dismissal.
She revealed her son had a medical issue that limited him in practice and once he did get released to play he opted after one game to sit out the rest of the season because he was not physically ready. She said she understood one reason Clevenger was dismissed was he was “harassing players to return to play” and she said that absolutely was not true.
“You will never convince me and hundreds of others this (firing Clevenger” was not personal (by the superintendent). Do the right thing. Reinstate Clay and clan house at the top. Dr. McDonald will be the demise of Danville schools,” Williams said.
Melody Crowe is also the mother of a football player and criticized the board and administration for not reading emails to “hear what our community is saying” and said citizens were “losing faith” that the board could take care of what they were elected to do. She noted “numerous” emails to the superintendent and assistant superintendent were not answered and that neither would take phone calls.
Crowe also asked why players and assistant coaches were “locked” out of the weight room by the superintendent.
“What is the new direction (for the football program)? Our direction is not to have her (McDonald) here,” Crowe said citing the “toxic” atmosphere in the Danville schools now that have become a “laughingstock” across the state. “Tammy McDonald is and will be the demise of Danville Independent School district.”
Clay Albright, a 2002 graduate who played on two state championship football teams, spoke about retaliation by the administration for anyone who spoke out against the administration and chastised McDonald for passing out pink slips (non-renewal notices) to teachers while wearing a pink suit.
“She has removed almost all home-grown minority teachers. It’s hard to diversify the staff when you are pouring Roundup on us,” Albright said.
He cited McDonald’s unwillingness to “grow long-term roots” in the community and said “her lack of presence in the community speaks to the type of person she is.
Jennings McClure has two middle school sons who noted that using power in a “reckless fashion” is harmless and questioned why no one has talked to players about the program’s future without Clevenger. She called that “unacceptable” by the school administration
“Many think the public outrage is over a football coach but this is a public outcry for respect wanting the best for our children. That’s why we are all here,” McClure said.
Terri Graves had a son play for Clevenger and an 11-year-old son she was hoping would get the same guidance and push from Clevenger and his staff. She also admitted she wondered if the superintendent and assistant superintendent seemed to support a diversity and equity committee she’s on because it would look good on their resumes.
“How do you support minorities and yet take away the mentors and father figures they look up to?” Graves said. “How can you promote equity when no one at the school looks like a minority student (Danville High School has no African-American teachers). This is bigger than football. It’s about the future of my son.
“You see so many kids transferring out (of the school district) and it’s no wonder they do. There is no communication. This community deserves better. These kids deserve better. It’s classless and disrespectful. You do not have to tell me why you fired Clay but you can tell me what direction you are going in. We have become a state embarrassment and the one person responsible is Dr. McDonald.”
Trisha Jarnagin, another Danville graduate, was a guidance counselor from 2015-19 before being released by McDonald. She noted a “general shift in energy” in the wrong direction after McDonald became superintendent.
“I felt a void of leadership at the highest level,” Jarnagin said.
She recalled having to shut her door to students to “complete administrative paperwork” McDonald wanted.
“I was pregnant, a military veteran, DHS alumni, nationally certified counselor with zero negative evaluations. I was fired without the approval of my principal with no cause given. I was fired by someone in a pink smile with a smile on her face,” Jarnagin said. “Please do not allow this administration to continue.”
Patsy Clevenger — the mother of the fired coach — was finance director under three superintendents at Danville and four in the Harrodsburg and Mercer County systems before that.
“I have never seen a school system operated in such a heavy-handed manner,” she told the board. “I have seen this administration add costly jobs to the central office, give administrative raises, and cut athletic budgets and personnel.
“Not only has this superintendent failed at managing financial resources but failed at managing human resources, but she retaliates and punishes anyone who speaks against her ill-informed decisions. I have never seen a superintendent personally hand out pink slips.”
Susan Parks said she grew up close to Danville High School and attended her first basketball game there at age 4. She was at the first game when Admiral Stadium opened almost 50 years ago.
“This board should put effort into fixing what is wrong in the system rather than destroying what is right and good,” Parks said. “I don’t know coach Clevenger but I know what I have seen beyond wins and championships. He came back (to Danville) to give back.”
Board members and McDonald offered no comment to any comments made by anyone during the meeting.
