School board may review hockey coach’s appeal of dismissal

March 20, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

It’s unclear whether the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board will take up the issue of former Harwood boys hockey coach Jacob Grout whose firing last month sparked strong public reaction. 

The board meets next on Wednesday evening at the same time that the Division II championship match is scheduled to be played in Barre between the winners of Saturday’s semifinal rounds that include the No. 1 ranked Highlanders taking on Middlebury at home at 3 p.m.  

The school board’s lengthy session on March 10 included some attention to the coach issue as members of the public spoke on Grout’s behalf, urging the board to review his case and consider rehiring him. The board also spent time discussing a personnel matter in executive session which was not open to public view on the video conference meeting. 

Former Harwood Boys Hockey Coach Jacob Grout. Times-Argus photo.

Grout was dismissed in February just before the winter sports season began after sending a controversial message to the team that he said was intended to motivate the players although it contained profanities. Grout has since apologized for the inappropriate language and maintains that the school’s action to fire him was disproportionate to the offense.

The board heard from several members of the public who urged the board to review and reverse the decision by administrators to let the popular coach go. An online petition calling for Grout’s reinstatement has garnered 1,375 signatures as of March 19. 

A Harwood alumnus and former hockey player himself, Grout joined the Harwood coaching staff in 2019 and led the team to the 2020 Division II state championship. 

Referring to last year’s Cinderella season, Heidi Hall called Grout’s influence on the team “powerful and positive,” saying “It was nothing short of incredible.” 

Having spent a 20-year career in law enforcement, Robert Sylvia told the board “the punishment doesn’t fit the crime,” in Grout’s case. He said the situation called for tolerance and empathy. “I think these kids need him,” he said.

The board listened to the comments but did not take discuss the matter specifically in public. Its agenda listed an executive session with Superintendent Brigid Nease and Harwood Union High School Co-Principals Laurie Greenberg and Meg McDonough in order to discuss “a disciplinary action against an employee.”

When the board got to the item, newly elected Chair Torrey Smith explained to the group that other steps were needed before they could meet with the administrators.  

“We’ve had some new developments around this matter,” Smith said. “The employee under discussion has appealed a decision of termination. So we did a little scrambling today to reach out to our attorney to reach and find a little bit more about what the rules are here.” 

The board did not name Grout specifically, as personnel matters are intended to be discussed in closed session. Prior to the school board’s meeting, however, Grout told Waterbury Roundabout that he had appealed his termination to the school board. 

Smith explained that the board can serve in a quasi-judicial role “where we would essentially act as an informal court to hear both sides of a case and make a decision.”

The board then decided to first enter executive session to review the advice from the school district’s attorney. Afterward, the board returned to the public meeting video conference to then announce a second executive session with Nease and the principals. 

When the board returned to public session afterward, it took no action. 

“Will this appear on the next agenda?” board member Jonathan Cough asked. 

“Yes,” Smith said. After a brief discussion about whether the board will determine whether to take up the appeal, Smith said she and Vice Chair Tim Jones in drafting the next agenda would outline the next steps for the board to follow. 

The board is scheduled to meet next at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24. The agenda does not reference a personnel matter, however it lists an executive session at the start of the meeting with the district’s lawyer Pietro Lynn to “provide professional legal services.”

Grout said he is hopeful his case may get a second look by the board but given the timing, it’s frustrating that it will not be resolved before this hockey season has ended. After winning the state title last year, he said he was looking forward to working with many of the same players he’s coached since their youth hockey days. 

“The three seniors leaving are the ones I’ve known since knee-high to a grasshopper,” he said. “Guys like that are the reason that I coach. I’ll never be able to get that back.” 

Undefeated this season at 7-0, the team is in the midst of Division II playoffs where it was the top seed led by head coach Shawn Thompson, promoted from assistant last month, and assistant coach Martin Casey. The Highlanders are scheduled to play No. 5 Middlebury in the semi-final round Saturday, March 20, at 3 p.m., at home at the Ice Center in Waterbury. The other round has No. 2 Brattleboro playing No. 6 Burr and Burton also on Saturday afternoon. 

Meetings of the HUUSD School Board are recorded and available to watch online on the Mad River TV website or the district’s YouTube channel.