ATHENS, Ohio — At its Thursday, April 17 meeting, the Athens City Schools Board of Education approved a new two-year contract for Athletic Director Eric Sholtis, despite continued opposition to Sholtis’ tenure by parents of school athletes, mainly pertaining to girls’ sports.
Among other complaints, parents say Sholtis was negligent in confirming with the Ohio High School Athletic Association an Athens High School volleyball player’s eligibility to compete. Subsequently, because the player was disqualified, the team forfeited its 2024 district co-championship title.
Although Sholtis was eligible for a three-year renewal, outgoing Superintendent Dr. Tom Gibbs recommended a two-year contract. Gibbs did not feel a non-renewal of Sholtis’ contract was appropriate, despite the volleyball error.
“Mr. Sholtis [is] showing improvement,” he told the Independent. A two-year renewal “would allow adequate time for professional growth and development.”
The board agreed with Gibbs’ recommendation and approved the new contract.
After the board meeting, Gibbs and Associate Superintendent Chad Springer, said Sholtis’ difficulties were unsurprising for an administrator who moved to a larger district. Athens’ student body of 2,800 is more than double that of Sholtis’ previous employer, the Noble Local School District in eastern Ohio.
“Athens is unique in Southeast Ohio in that we have a very involved parent population,” Gibbs said. “In smaller districts, you tend to have more homogeneity and uniformity in thought. Eric came from a more rural district, and I think there are growing pains when you go from that to a small city district. There’s more diversity of thought and a diverse population of people.”
Springer will replace Gibbs as superintendent on Tuesday, July 1, and recognizes that parents have been unsatisfied with communication during Gibbs’ tenure.
“Communication has been the biggest need across the district [by] the admin team in general,” he said. “My goal is to improve that, and that will start this summer.”
Rated “ineffective”
Sholtis was put on an improvement plan on Dec. 1, 2024, because he was given a rating of “ineffective,” according to information the Independent obtained through a public records request.
The directives in Sholtis’ plan focused on improved communication, giving parents more input into decisions as well as the “creation of an intentional method to celebrate sports that receive little to no recognition. (golf, tennis, soccer, cross country).”
Sholtis’ efforts were evaluated on Friday, March 28. Athens High School principal April Stewart approved the evaluation, stating that Sholtis had met the objectives.
“We looked at a series of improvements over the year gauging from what occurred in October through this year, which included factors such as communication, oversight, and accountability,” Springer said. “Communication and oversight has been the utmost priority and it’s going to continue to be.”
Parents remain unimpressed, however.
“That’s a pretty low bar,” said a parent of a multi-sport athlete. “If you’re an athletic director who has to be told to communicate better and recognize lower-profile sports, then what are you doing as an athletic director in the first place?”
The board’s decision to renew Sholtis’ contract shows that parents’ concerns don’t matter, said parent Jen Newton.
“The school board and the district leadership have made it clear that the experiences of those most directly impacted by the AD, students, boosters, and families, don’t matter to them,” said Newton, whose daughter plays varsity soccer. “[It’s] reinforcing the distrust that came to a head this year. They just endorsed girls’ sports getting the short end of the stick for two more years.”
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