FARGO-The girls tennis coach at Fargo Davies High School was removed from the position last week because of ongoing concerns this spring related to his high school teaching role.
Brad Miller, a 10-year English teacher for Fargo Public Schools, was informed in a May 7 letter by Davies Principal Troy Cody that he would not be coaching the team in postseason tournaments, which start today. Davies is the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Dakota Conference.
Miller was told that ongoing concerns with his teaching duties led to the decision, according to personnel file documents obtained by The Forum through an open records request.
Last Friday, Davies Activities Director Lenny Ohlhauser said Miller had resigned from his tennis coaching duties for personal reasons.
A message left Wednesday afternoon on a phone number The Forum had on file for Miller was not immediately returned.
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The May 7 letter includes specific items that were discussed at a meeting attended by Miller, Cody, Fargo Public Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Schatz, Director of Human Resources Sheryl Lehman and Fargo teachers union president David Marquardt.
The meeting was conducted as a followup to an employee improvement plan Miller was placed on March 17.
Items discussed last week included Miller's "erratic behaviors" displayed since being placed on the improvement plan, "lack of judgment" Miller used in adding points to students' grades, the number of times Miller left Davies High School during the school day with no justification, Miller's punctuality at work and his communication problems with others in the building.
The letter states: "Based on the continued concerns listed above it was determined that you will not be coaching for the remainder of this school year so that you can concentrate on your teaching duties." It concludes by stating Miller's employee improvement plan is still in effect for the remainder of the school year and will continue to be reviewed.
Miller and Cody both signed and dated the letter on Tuesday.
Miller was hired by Fargo Public Schools on Aug. 22, 2005. He has served as Davies' girls tennis coach for five seasons and also was an assistant coach on the Eagles' boys tennis team last fall.
A recent teaching evaluation completed on Mar. 9 of this year-a week prior to Miller being placed on his employee improvement plan-referenced an instance where Miller had left his classroom unattended for an extended amount of time, however Miller received overall good marks in several areas.
Miller received the highest possible marks in every area critiqued in the two coaching evaluations that appeared in his file for the 2014 and 2013 girls tennis seasons.
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The 2014 coaching evaluation form filled out by activities director Ohlhauser stated, "Coach Miller and I had a nice year and I look forward to him moving the team another step further in the area of competitiveness."
