UPDATE: No Action Yet On Bingham Complaint Against HUSD

Update, 7 p.m. Friday

Board members for the Healdsburg Unified School District on Friday postponed any action or announcements about the complaint filed by fired Healdsburg High School Track Coach and Athletic Director Jenean Bingham until next week.

The second meeting on the complaint, when the HUSD board is expected to present its findings, is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 27 at the district office on the Healdsburg High School campus.

At tonight's meeting, sources said, the board got its first presentation on a lengthy report from investigator Chris Reynolds. Reynolds was hired by the district to investigate Bingham's allegations that staffing and other athletic administrative issues were not being handled properly.

In addition to Reynolds, board Attorney Bob Henry was also present at tonight's meeting, along with board members Judy Velasquez, Genevieve Llerena, Vince Dougherty and Ted Crowell. Board member Donna del Rey was unable to attend due to a prior commitment.

HUSD Superintendent Jeff Harding, one of two administrators named in the complaint, was absent but was represented by Annie Millar, the district's director of curriculum and instruction. HHS Principal Chris Vanden Heuvel, who was also named in the complaint, did not attend.

Barbara Pinney, president of the Healdsburg Area Teachers Association, said she had received no advance word on the findings of the investigation -- only that it was a lengthy report. Pinney was among a group of people who waited Friday in the district office lobby for the closed session to finish.

The closed session began at around 5 p.m. and ended at 6:20 p.m.

Original story, 12:14 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, 2012.

A complaint filed against the Healdsburg Unified School District by former Healdsburg High School Head Track Coach and Athletic Director Jenean Bingham could be acted upon at a special meeting tonight.

The HUSD board has set a meeting at 5 p.m. at district headquarters on the Healdsburg High School campus.

According to District Secretary Patti Jobson, the meeting will be in closed session. However, there will be  a few minutes open to the public before the closed session to announce the topic, and a few minutes open to the public afterward to announce any action taken in closed session.

It was not immediately clear how long the closed session would last. Bingham's complaint was filed abou two months ago after her Sept. 7 firing as head track coach.

Bingham and numerous other HUSD faculty, coaching staff and students publicly protested the firing, which created a ripple of outrage throughout the Sonoma County school athletics community.

Bingham has declined to state the specifics or demands of her complaint, except to say that she wanted to air the truth about certain practices she felt were detrimental within the HUSD and HHS athletic staffing program.

Specifically named in the complaint are HUSD Superintendent Jeff Harding and HHS Principal Chris Vanden Heuvel.

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