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Citrus

Controversial baseball coach makes quiet return to teaching

He lost his job at Crystal River High amid complaints of ethics violations. Now he's a teacher in Lecanto.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published January 8, 2007

LECANTO - When Brent Hall lost his job in 2003 as the baseball coach at Crystal River High School over rule violations and ethics questions, his departure was high-profile and tinged with controversy.

Hall's return to a job with the school district has been far more low-key.

Hall was hired to teach social studies at Lecanto High at the beginning of this school year. He has twice sought the job of baseball coach at Lecanto but hasn't succeeded so far.

His hiring gained little notice. There was no huge public debate by the School Board like there was during his 2003 ouster, no crowd of emotional supporters pleading his case.

Now, as the second semester begins, Lecanto principal Kelly Tyler said Hall has been doing his job as a classroom teacher. Tyler said it is too early to say whether Hall will earn a recommendation this spring for tenure.

Teachers usually earn tenure, known as a professional services contract, after three or four years on an annual contract.

Hall was recommended for tenure at Crystal River in 2003 but his principal at the time, Steve Myers, then withdrew that offer when the controversy surrounding him hit a fever pitch.

Nor did Myers offer Hall another year on annual contract at that time, which was in essence like handing Hall his pink slip.

Hall's winning baseball record garnered him a large group of supporters who stood by him despite the litany of issues that arose after a series of articles in the St. Petersburg Times.

On the last day of school in 2003, Hall's fate and that of his beloved baseball program at Crystal River were revealed.

At a School Board meeting that day, the board's attorney, the late Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick, said that Hall "did a very good job of teaching boys the game of baseball and maybe even teaching the game of life."

Fitzpatrick, who investigated complaints against the coach, went on to say, "Unfortunately, there are rules we must all follow, and when the rules are broken, there are consequences."

Hall faced accusations of recruiting a Lecanto player to his Crystal River team, running baseball camps in violation of state rules, having free use of an expensive car provided by the father of a Crystal River baseball player and asking his students to help him raise funds for the private Mike Hampton Pitching In Foundation, which employed him.

He was also accused of making expensive field improvements without reporting the donations that paid for the improvements and doing the work without getting proper permits.

Ultimately the Florida High School Athletic Association investigated and placed Crystal River's program on probation over the recruiting violation. That probation ended a year later.

In a previous position, Hall's actions had brought sanctions by the FHSAA to another program he had coached before he came to Crystal River.

For his part in the baseball controversy, Myers was reprimanded.

Some of the improvements to the baseball field had to be removed.

In addition to losing his job, Hall also faced an investigation by the office of Professional Practices Services, the investigative arm of the Florida Board of Education.

On Nov. 22, 2005, that state investigation concluded that there was no probable cause to pursue any discipline against Hall's teaching certificate.

Hall did not return a phone call seeking comment on his return to teaching in the Citrus schools.

Tyler said Hall applied for the social studies teaching job last summer and was interviewed by a team of educators who picked him for the job, one of two openings in the school's social studies department last year.

"We wanted someone who could build a good relationship with the kids and motivate the kids," which Hall had been known for in the past, Tyler said.

Tyler made his recommendation to hire Hall knowing what had happened at Crystal River High School. He said he and committee members talked to Hall about the problems in his past.

"He made it very clear to me that he understood the situation," Tyler said. "He said he had made mistakes at Crystal River and he had learned from them and he won't repeat them."

The issue of coaching in the future was not tied to the job offer, Tyler said. But he noted that if Hall continues to perform well in the classroom and later applies for a coaching job, he would be considered like any other candidate.

"If he really has changed and, given what I've seen in the classroom, he appears to have, then giving him a second chance is not a bad thing," Tyler said.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 8, 2007, 06:24:17]