Ty Ivy was preparing for his 17th year as Evergreen’s track coach when he was summoned to the school athletic director’s office for a meeting the last week of January 2011. He met with Evergreen’s athletic director and one of the school’s three principals.

“The principal announced to me that they were not going to renew my track contract this season and I asked what the basis was, what were the grounds, and he said, ‘Let’s just call it a collective decision,’” Ivy said.

Ivy left the office dismayed and went to speak with Tyrone Curry, Evergreen’s other track coach who has co-coached the team with Ivy during his 16 years. They went to the athletic director’s office together to plead Ivy’s case but to no avail. Ivy said Evergreen’s athletic director told them his hands were tied and the decision was made by the three principals at Evergreen.

Ivy said there are, at last count, 53 student-athletes on Evergreen’s track team for the 2011 season.

“The kicker is they never replaced me so Tyrone is out there by himself,” Ivy said. “He is out there with the kids by himself and he is a great coach but having a rough time. There are not enough eyes on the field, child safety can be affected and it’s not a great situation.”

As co-coaches of the team, Ivy was the girl’s head coach and Curry was the boy’s head coach, but Ivy said “the titles are really just that in name.” He said they always took a collective approach to working with the kids.

Ivy, having never been given a reason for his contract not being renewed, is left wondering while he deals with the “void” in his life after 16 years of coaching.

In the wake of Evergreen's decision to not bring Ivy on for the 2011 season, several parents of track athletes at the school have asked what happened as well.

He said he could only think of three reasons why a coach would be let go: One, they retire, two, they did something very inappropriate or three, they had a terrible record.

“Obviously the first two are not me and the third one, in the last 16 years of coaching we have taken kids to the state track meet 14 of those years … and I don’t know of any other sports on that campus that can claim that outside of tennis.”

“We have a great track record and I have never been given a reason (for his contract non-renewal),” Ivy said. “The way I see it, I feel there’s only two decisions the district can make; allow me to coach or give me a valid reason as to why I was dismissed. Of course I’d prefer the former.”

Catherine Carbone Rogers, director of communication and community engagement for the Highline School District, said the district is unable to comment on personnel matters.

“The decision was made not to renew the contract,” she said.

More information from Rogers regarding coaching contracts and Ivy's situation can be found further down in the story. The section is titled, "Information from Highline School District."

Athlete and parent frustration

Earlier in 2011, Toni Botello spoke on Ivy’s behalf at a Highline School District meeting. In that speech, obtained in writing by the Highline Times, she told the story of her son, Devante, getting into track after suffering a neck injury that kept him from wrestling for Evergreen – his first love.

“No matter how hard they tried ... his neck never got better,” Botello wrote in her speech. “His dream of representing EHS (Evergreen High School) at home under the spotlight would never come. It was probably one of the darkest most depressing times for Devante.”

“Then like a ray of sunshine … came Coach Ty Ivy,” she wrote. “He put a javelin, a discus and a shot put in his hand and Devante shined! His confidence, self worth and self esteem were back.”

“Ivy’s quiet, relaxed confident coaching style has helped Devante grow to be the thrower and the young man he is today,” she wrote.

“What is being done now is an outrage … I demand the renewal of Ty Ivy’s coaching contract.”

Feeling the void

“The Ivy name has been synonymous with Highline School District athletics for nearly 30 years,” Ivy said.

He went to elementary school at Sunnydale Elementary, then Gregory Heights Elementary, competed in track and football at Sylvester Middle School and Highline High School before moving on to compete in both sports at Central Washington University. He has two brothers who competed in sports at Highline HS as well and one of his younger brother’s currently teaches and is the head track coach at Sylvester Middle School.

Ivy has continued to work in the Highline School District as a computer support technician (a position he held in addition to coaching at Evergreen), but said his days are different now.

“When I drive home it takes me on 509 N right past Kennedy High School and their track is right there on the freeway so it’s very, very difficult to drive straight home past another high school track practice,” Ivy said.

“I mean those are my kids, you know. Trying to get our (track team) numbers back up we were having crossover practices with Cascade Middle School because we share the same field, so for some of these kids this would have been the sixth year working with (them).”

“You know, every other day I’m getting a text message from one of my kids saying, ‘Coach, we need some help, can you come help out?’ and I have to reply, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do that, I can’t come out and help.’”

“That part of it is probably the most difficult, so there is definitely a void when I have a specific kid asking for help and I can’t help.”

Information from Highline School District

Catherine Carbone Rogers provided the following in an email:

Coaches' contracts
"Coaches in Highline are hired for the length of the season on a “non-continuing” basis, which means the employment ends at the end of the season, and there is no guarantee of being hired the following year. Each year, candidates can reapply, but the district doesn’t have any obligation to hire them year to year. This is the same for all sports in all schools.

Coaches are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, which is typically the vehicle for language governing a firing process; but to be clear, Ty Ivy was not fired. He had non-continuing employment, and he was not hired as a track coach this year."

Evergreen track coaching situation
"Evergreen and Tyee have a co-op team this year (combining both campuses as one team). Chuck Cushman, the Tyee coach, is coaching the team along with Tyrone Curry. It is my understanding that Tyrone Curry has reported that about 30 Evergreen students turn out for practice on a daily basis. Tyee has 8-10 students on the team. So on a typical day, there would be about 40 students at practice with two coaches.

The district informed Tyrone Curry of a plan to hire a throwing coach, and Mr. Curry indicated he had someone in mind. Mr. Curry was asked to have that person contact the district athletic director, but the person has not done so. The district athletic director has attempted to reach Mr. Curry to follow up."

The decision not to renew Ivy's contract
"The district’s executive director of human resources met with Mr. Ivy on March 28 and followed up in an email on April 4. While I can’t comment on the content of either exchange, I can verify that an explanation was given to Mr. Ivy."

Ivy is out of town as of April 7 and will be unavailable for comment until Monday, April 11. This story will be updated at that time.