PENDER COUNTY — The Pender County Board of Education directed the hiring of an independent investigator on Tuesday to look into the wrestling program at Topsail High School.
According to the district, the investigator will examine the “facts and circumstances surrounding the Topsail High School (THS) Wrestling program.” The move is in response to “significant concerns” brought to the board’s attention by both school system staff and a significant portion of the Topsail High School community, per the district.
The announcement was made after the school board’s closed session on Tuesday. Port City Daily asked the district for more details on the investigation, though PCS spokesperson Bob Fankboner said it could not provide any.
“As the investigation is underway, Pender County Schools would have no further comment on the matter,” Fankboner said.
The move comes after the firing of Topsail High’s wrestling coach Pete Smith. According to the district, Smith completed the season, which ended on Feb. 17, as the varsity wrestling coach and was not offered another yearly contract.
THS community members have started a petition to reinstate Smith as head coach; it has 620 signatures.
The petition lauds Smith for his dedication and benefit to the wrestling program, noting interest in the sport has grown in his tenure. It also addresses complaints made against the coach.
“Of all of the current ‘complaints’ against Coach Pete, the majority are from actions of other coaches or students themselves,” the petition states. “Many of these ‘complaints’ occurred months to years ago. If we are going to hold our wrestling program to such a high standard, it is only fair to hold our administrative staff, our BOE, our Athletic Directors, and students accountable as well.”
Port City Daily asked for publicly available personnel information on Smith, though the district’s legal counsel initially refused to provide it, citing it was not public record.
Per North Carolina law, several data points are available for public inspection, including salary, terms of the the employee contract, date and type of each disciplinary dismissal, suspension, and a copy of the written notice of the final decision.
Counsel agreed to fulfill the request when the law was cited; this will be updated upon response.
The board intends to make any and all relevant portions of the investigator’s final report public. The district described this effort as a way to preserve the THS community’s confidence in the board’s ability to adequately exercise its oversight responsibilities over staff and interscholastic athletic programs.
The board has set a tentative deadline of late April as the due date for its independent investigator’s final report.
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