Katy, Tx – The University Interscholastic League (UIL) handed down decisions with regards to former Morton Ranch High School Coaches Scott Svendsen and Jeremy Orsagh. After an independent review of the evidence, the UIL Executive Committee sanctioned each coach with a three-year suspension from all UIL activities in Texas, the maximum allowed under UIL guidelines. In addition, each coach will receive a public reprimand in a future publication of the UIL Leaguer.

The sanctions handed down by the UIL Executive Committee sustain the district’s long-standing position that it had gathered sufficient evidence during its investigation to support the allegations brought forth against the coaches. The coaches, along with their attorney, were given an extended amount of time to refute the allegations before the committee. In recent weeks, there has been a lot of speculation and news reports questioning the validity of the allegations, the investigation and evidence collected, as well as the reasoning behind the settlement agreements between the coaches and Katy ISD. The UIL’s decision should put to rest any doubt that the district’s actions were justified and in the best interest of the Morton Ranch High School students, staff and community.

Much of the speculation in recent weeks has centered on the reasoning behind the settlement agreements between Katy ISD and former coaches Orsagh, Svendsen, as well as Cody Haug. Recent news reports seem to indicate a belief that perhaps the district did not have sufficient evidence to support the allegations, and therefore sought to reach a settlement with the coaches.

While the district was confident that it had sufficient evidence to prove the allegations it [the district] believed that it was in its best interest and most cost effective to resolve this issue through settlement agreements. In the end, the settlements realize a cost savings to the district by avoiding any additional legal fees which would typically be incurred in the cost of a hearing.

Each of the Morton Ranch High School coaches had a Chapter 21 dual contract, which grants teachers certain rights. If the District proposes termination of an employee during the contract period of an employee with a Chapter 21 contract, the employee is entitled to a hearing before an independent hearing examiner, if they so choose. Once the employee has received notice of the proposed termination, the employee has fifteen days to request the hearing.

Once the hearing is requested, the Commissioner of Education assigns a hearing examiner, which can take up to 10 days. The hearing examiner completes the hearing and makes a written recommendation within sixty days, although the hearing examiner may request an extension of 45 days. Once the Board receives the hearing examiner’s recommendation, the Board must properly post and take action on the recommendation at the following Board meeting.

The Board took action on August 26, 2009, that approved “giving notice to the employee of the proposed termination” of each coach’s contract. Each of the three coaches was sent a certified letter on September 1, 2009 giving them notice of proposed termination. Each individual coach requested a hearing with an independent examiner.

The Commissioner of Education received the request for a hearing from Jeremy Orsagh on September 14, 2009; from Cody Haug on September 16, 2009; and from Scott Svendsen on September 17, 2009. Each of the individual hearing examiners and parties agreed to a 45 day extension due to conflicts in schedule and the complexity of the case. The hearings were scheduled for the following dates: Orsagh, November 10 and 11, 2009; Haug, December 1 and 2; and, Svendsen, December 8, 9 and 10, 2009.

After each of the hearings, the hearing examiner would have had approximately 30 days to respond, after which time the examiner’s recommendation would need to be posted and considered by the Katy ISD Board of Trustees. Because the district is required to pay an employee until the Board has taken action to terminate the employee, Orsagh would have likely been paid through the January Board meeting and Svendsen and Haug potentially through the February Board meeting.

The settlement agreements, however, save the district one to two months’ salary for both Orsagh and Svendsen respectively, as their payments ceased December 19, 2009. Haug continues to be employed by the district through the end of the 2009-10 school year, yet not in the same assignment as before.

In addition to the continuation of the salaries, if the hearings had occurred, the district would bear the cost of the services of the hearing examiner and certified shorthand reporter, and the production of any original hearing transcripts for all three hearings. Also, each party bears its costs of discovery and attorney fees. All of this data was considered as the district entered into the separation agreement with each of the coaches.

Details concerning each of the three settlement agreements are considered private and cannot be released by the district except when requested through a formal public information request. Any member of the public who wishes to see the details of the settlement agreements can obtain a copy by contacting Tricia McKinney, Katy ISD Public Records Specialists at publicrecords@katyisd.org