Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Walt DeShields, center, talks with attendees of the West Branch Area School District Board of Education meeting on Wednesday after being approved as the West Branch girls basketball coach.

BELOIT — Members of the Beloit community filed into the high school auditorium on Wednesday evening, awaiting a decision from the West Branch Area Board of Education.

The BOE members entered executive session at 5:31 p.m. to discuss DeShields’ employment. And after 20 minutes, they returned with the news the majority wanted to hear.

Walt DeShields was reinstated as the West Branch girls basketball coach on Wednesday on a supplemental contract.

DeShields declined to make a comment, but he had a pre-written statement that he distributed to the media in attendance.

The full statement is below, with minor edits for punctuation and capitalization:

“First, I would like to thank everyone for coming out tonight,” DeShields said in the release.

“I am not here to say that I am perfect, nobody is, or to change someone’s opinion and with this decision, there is no winner or loser. It is never good to pick sides until you know the full story. There have been statements made that were hurtful personal attacks and will be very difficult to take back, but hopefully, with productive discussions and even forgiveness, our school, community and team can find a way to learn and grow from this situation, move forward, and come back together, even stronger!

“My family and I would like to thank all of the people that have reached out with their prayers, love and support. Your positive encouragement has helped give us strength throughout this process. We are truly humbled and extremely blessed!

“All coaches will have players and parents who may be happy or upset with some of the decisions they made. Being in a leadership position comes with those additional pressures, but the enjoyment of helping student athletes learn, improve, and overcome adversity to prepare them for life makes it all worthwhile.

“I cannot wait to get back in the gym, with our players and coaches to begin working and preparing for the next season. To do what I love, teaching and coaching basketball. Our motto this year is that; ‘It’s not about one of us, it’s about all of us.’ Bring a team of individuals together, to accept their roles and play for each other, towards a common goal, that may be the toughest but most rewarding thing a coach strives to do every season.

“In closing, I am grateful that our superintendent, Mrs. Egli, and athletic director, Mr. Wolf, took the time to thoroughly look into all the information and recommend me for the head girls’ basketball position.”

The BOE also had a press release, which was read aloud by president Mikki Kanagy during the meeting. Similar to DeShields’ statement, it is below with minor edits:

“Our community has been through a lot over the past several weeks.

“In fact, it has been too much. Too much misinformation. Too many rumors. Too many attacks on social media. Too much confusion. So much cruelty.

“Far too much of this has been unnecessary and, to some degree, the wounds have been self-inflicted. For that, the Board is very sorry. A situation that required response was handled and should have remained confidential given the privacy issues involved. Instead, it was allowed to grow out of control. We accept responsibility for our role in that.

“Superintendent Egli has expressed her concerns relating to Mr. DeShields’ judgement, which have been discussed with him and we support her determination to address those internally and continue to monitor those concerns moving forward.

“With the vote you have seen tonight, wwe hope to put much of this to rest. There should now be no doubt that Coach DeShields will be back leading our girls’ high school basketball team.

“We understand that some in our community may ask, why now? To that, I can only say that we have heard and read what our community has expressed about this. We have thought hard and long about the issues involved and carefully considered the recommendation of our superintendent. We know we need to own our part of this.

“We also understand that our community will decide when it’s time to move on from the hard feelings and divisiveness this has fueled.

“Our mission statement is to prepare all students for tomorrow, today.

“Tonight, we want to move forward together focusing again on that mission.”

It was announced on April 1 that DeShields was not returning as the head coach of the Warriors after 20 seasons. Last week, 21 WFMJ-TV reported that DeShields’ employment records lacked disciplinary issues or conduct that required investigation.

During his time coaching the Warriors, he never had a losing season. He recorded 379 wins, won eight conference titles and seven district championships and reached the state semifinals twice.

WOLF IS STILL THE AD

Ryan Wolf is still the athletic director, despite rumors of his intent to step down, according to superintendent Micki Egli.

Wolf is also the baseball coach, taking over for Rick Mulinix this season. The Warriors entered Wednesday with a 3-3 record and a 2-1 mark in the Eastern Buckeye Conference.

NEEDING A NEW VP

The BOE also accepted the registration of vice president Aaron Hawk, citing his wife’s new job and time needed with his family.

A new board member will need to be in place by May 9, and the application window is open until April 23.