HIGH SCHOOL

Racism alleged — and denied — in treatment of Greencastle track coach

David Woods
IndyStar
Craig Jordan, Greencastle track coach who has been placed on  administrative leave, continues to train with Emma Wilson. Wilson is not running for Greencastle this season because,  she says, of how the school has treated her coach.

GREENCASTLE – If not for a stand taken by Emma Wilson, the state’s top female distance runner, this would have been a small-town dust-up ignored outside Putnam County.

Instead, the unresolved status of Greencastle track coach Craig Jordan became message board fodder for letsrun.com, a popular running website, and now the coach’s attorney is accusing school leaders of racism.

“If Greencastle schools have good evidence that this firing was not racially based, then they’ve got to call me right away,” said Indianapolis lawyer Jon Little, who recently began representing Jordan.

“If they’ve got the cards, let’s see them," Little told IndyStar on Monday. "From where I’m sitting, their hand is not good. If you’ve got some other reason than this kid’s black, let’s go.”

After Monday’s school board meeting, Robert Rund, attorney for the school corporation, was told of Little’s statement about racism.

“That’s not accurate,” Rund replied. “That certainly wasn’t the reason.”

He declined to elaborate.

More:Indiana's top runner says she won't run for Greencastle High School anymore

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Jordan, 28, has been placed on paid administrative leave, according to a copy of a Nov. 28 letter obtained by IndyStar. The letter, from superintendent Jeff Hubble, cited Jordan for “an irretrievable breakdown in your professional relationships that cannot be resolved.”

The controversy burst into the spotlight when Emma Wilson, a five-time state champion and University of Illinois signee, announced Dec. 5 she would not represent Greencastle in her senior track season. She called action taken against her coach “shameful.” She is continuing to train with Jordan and will race in college and open meets.

Jordan, a former Pike High School and Butler University runner, is in his third year at Greencastle. He is a three-time Western Indiana Conference coach of the year. He is the only black teacher in the district. The city is 92.4 percent white, according to the 2010 census.

At the school board meeting, which was packed and tense, an hour was devoted to public comment. Most were there to protest reassignment of an intermediate school principal to another position.

But they also heard about the track coach from Chad Wilson, Emma's father, who has been a strident critic of the board in Facebook posts. Wilson is a senior systems and network engineer at DePauw University.

"We have filed no complaints with the school about Craig and how he trains or interacts with Emma," Wilson said, "and the school has never approached us to express any concerns with Emma training with Craig.”

IndyStar asked Hubble, principal Chad Rodgers, athletic director Doug Greenlee and board president Michael White to respond to a list of alleged actions against the coach obtained by IndyStar. None replied. At the meeting, White repeatedly stated the board was bound by law not to comment on personnel matters.

On Monday night, there were multiple calls for an elected school board.

Greencastle is an anomaly in Indiana: Of 289 school districts, Greencastle is one of 10 to have an appointed board. Of its five board positions, two are appointed by the City Council, two by the Green Castle Township trustee and one by the Madison Township trustee.

Several speakers said teachers were afraid to point out problems for fear of losing their  jobs. IndyStar reached out to teachers about Jordan; none would comment.

“We will present all the facts publicly," Jordan's attorney told IndyStar before the board meeting. "And now is the time to make this right. They need to show the kids that things like diversity are important in Greencastle. Right now, they’re showing the kids that Greencastle is not a place that welcomes diversity."

“I don’t know what they expect we’re going to do,” Little added, “but it’s going to be aggressive and it’s going to be public and we’re going to clear his name.”

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com or call 317-444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.