Community members voice support for baseball coach 

by Laura Bednar

Jan. 21 board of education meeting

More than a dozen community members voiced support for Independence High baseball coach Jim Crooks, who was placed on leave after a Jan. 10 incident with a basketball coach from Trinity High School.

Jim Crooks’ son, Sam Crooks, said Trinity’s coach harassed him online and later one-on-one in the Independence locker room before a Jan. 10 basketball game. Sam Crooks texted his father in the stands when he encountered the coach, and said his father defended him.

Those actions, according to Sam Crooks, are why his father was placed on leave from coaching. “My father has brought together a group of kids over the years we call our family and to see him not in charge of this family this year is impossible to imagine,” he said.

Jessie Siegferth, Sam Crooks’ aunt, said the Trinity coach should not have had access to her nephew in the locker room and that Independence Athletic Director Brett Diehl “did not communicate the urgency of this matter to the district or police on duty that night.”

Rachel Peluso, Jim Crooks’ sister, said nobody in the school did anything to protect Sam Crooks prior to the Jan. 10 incident. “More attention should have been given to this,” she said.

Rob Schuette, whose son plays baseball for Jim Crooks, said he “has done nothing but foster an environment of respect.” He added that Jim Crooks had an obligation to act the way he did, and if it was Schuette’s son, he would have done the same thing.

IHS senior Dominic Narduzzi addressed the board of education: “If you guys truly believe that coach didn’t know what he was doing by walking into our locker room, it’s unbelievable,” adding, “Coach [Jim] Crooks was defending a kid because no one else was there to do it.”

Michael Suhy, a school parent who has coached with Jim Crooks, said the issue is the board’s failure to prioritize the safety and well being of students. “Actions against [Jim] Crooks are unwarranted and unjustified,” he said. 

Jim Crooks sent the following statement to Independence Today: “Thank you to the specific individuals who spoke that evening with words of support and encouragement, who attended in true Indy-family style, and for their efforts to recognize what was actually taking place given the circumstances.”

In response to questions from Independence Today, Superintendent Kelli Cogan said because the bullying incidents were a student matter, the district could not disclose whether the bullying complaints were investigated, due to privacy concerns. The district did not disclose the specific reason for Jim Crooks’ temporary leave.

“Mr. [Jim] Crooks was temporarily on leave from coaching but has been returned to his position at this time,” said Cogan. “The concern stemmed from an incident at a Jan. 10 basketball game that has since been addressed. We look forward to Mr. [Jim] Crooks continuing to coach for our boys baseball team.”

Donations

The district accepted a $10,000 donation from the estate of Dr. Thomas Sluberski, an Independence High School alumnus of the class of 1958 who passed away in March 2024. Treasurer Jennifer Knapp said the donation will be used, as requested, for arts programming at the high school and lighting fixture improvements.

Also accepted was a $10,000 donation from Playhouse Square for lighting fixtures and equipment to be dispersed between the middle and high school auditoriums.

CVCC

Linda O’Neill, district representative from the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, announced that positions are open for full-time career specialists in each of CVCC’s eight school districts. The intent is to “expand in the K-8 environment” and “[bring] awareness of career tech further down in younger grades,” according to O’Neill.

Independence has a part-time career specialist, Amanda Jaranowski. Cogan said having a full-time career specialist would be a “win for the district.” 

She added that there is potential for CVCC students in machine courses to take part in an apprenticeship with bus mechanics at Independence Local Schools.

In other action

The district approved spending $18,000 in a contract with Architectural Vision Group for facility assessments and master planning services for the primary and middle school. An additional $5,000 will be spent for the company to assess the district bus garage. The assessment will be completed by April 15.

The board adopted a new competitive bidding policy, which requires the district to obtain competitive bids when planning to build, repair, enlarge, improve or demolish a school building if the cost is more than $75,000. The previous threshold was $50,000. Board Vice President Carrie Sears offered condolences to the family of David DiCarlo, who passed away on Jan. 1. He was a former district teacher and coach.