SARANAC LAKE — A petition opposing the Saranac Lake Central School District’s decision to not renew girls varsity volleyball coach Mike Navarra’s contract has garnered several hundred signatures.

Despite that significant public support, school board leaders say it is unlikely to change anything.

Navarra was not brought on for another year of coaching in December after an annual evaluation brought up two on-court issues he has had in the past year: a red card for arguing with a referee, and shouting with opposing team fans, according to a letter from district Superintendent Diane Fox obtained by the Enterprise.

He says these cases were not as serious as the district made them to be, and has accused the district of retaliating against him for speaking about his opposition to his son’s seven-game basketball suspension for a social media post. Last month, school administrators suspended his son, who is Black, for a Snapchat post using profanity including the n-word and f-word.

Paul Null, the junior varsity volleyball coach, created a petition on change.org titled “Reinstate Coach Mike Navarra as SLCSD Varsity Volleyball Coach.” It had gotten 545 signatures as of Tuesday.

Null said he feels Navarra has built a great program and that the girls volleyball team has stepped out of the long shadows cast by boys sports to be recognized and admired for their five sectional championships.

He felt Navarra was “unceremoniously discarded” via a letter, which he said was full of hearsay, rumors and slander. Null questioned why Navarra never got a warning, a chance to improve or an opportunity for a rebuttal. He said the administrators jumped straight to not renewing his contract.

Null said Navarra can be “loud and demanding.”

“Delicacy is not his strong suit,” he said.

But Null also said he never saw his fellow coach exhibit “reprehensible behavior.” He questioned why the district would take action on his courtside behavior now and not when it happened.

“Is it merely a coincidence that this dismissal letter just happened to arrive within one week of the volleyball coach challenging the administration’s excessive discipline handed out to a student in an unrelated incident?” Null asked.

Null felt this was “revenge” for challenging the administration and that it teaches the district’s children that they cannot challenge authority. Null said when he posted his petition on the district’s sportsYou app, it was deleted by an administrator and his coaching profile was deleted from JV volleyball team page. He said he hopes he can stay on as the JV volleyball coach, but he also wants to work with Navarra, who he said is a positive role model for the students. He said it is the athletes who suffer the most with Navarra’s departure.

The district’s board of education has been asked to intervene in the situation, but that appears unlikely to happen.

Saranac Lake Central School District Board of Education Interim President Mark Farmer said board members have different views on the situation, but all have confidence in the administration. As a board, he said they don’t have as much information as the administrators do and could be missing the nuances, the facts or the background of a case. Farmer said the board has faith in the administrators to have the full story, make the right decisions and handle the situations correctly.

Fox said she is not legally allowed to comment on employment and disciplinary situations. After the board meeting at which this issue was addressed, she said she will not comment on it publicly. Athletic Director Forrest Morgan also said he would not comment on the situation.

Student-athletes are held to both the athletic and student codes of conduct. The student code is broader. Farmer said he’s enforced both as the district’s athletic director and dean of students in the past. He said those decisions over consequences are the superintendent’s domain.

Aurora White, a parent of a student on Navarra’s team who also served as the president of the SLCSD school board until she resigned in November, said the board is essentially the superintendent’s boss and can tell her what to do, find her in insubordination if she doesn’t and fire when necessary. Other board members say it is more complicated than that.

On Dec. 26, the board penned a letter signed by the entire board, including Mike Martin, who was appointed by the board to fill White’s vacancy at the meeting on Dec. 21.

The letter states that the board supports the administrators and explained their relationship.

“The board does not tell the superintendent what to do,” the statement reads. “The board sets goals for the superintendent, requests and receives information and reports from the superintendent and with that information, acts on matters within its purview. It makes decisions accordingly.”

The letter states that the board oversees and manages the district with the superintendent serving as its CEO, the same as every other district in the state. They have a “collaborative working relationship,” according to the letter.

“As a board, we are proud of and support our administrative team,” the statement reads.

The superintendent carries out the policies and goals the board sets. Boards do not typically dictate exact decisions. A superintendent may be fired with a majority vote of the board, but all board members signed the letter saying they are confident in Fox’s decisions and judgement.

Farmer said he is confident in Fox’s diligence.

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This is part three of a three-part series.