Board Approves Deal to Keep Track Coach

The city’s school board has approved an agreement to keep veteran track coach Dale Smith as one of Moorpark High School’s head coaches during the spring season.

Board members Monday approved a coaching list that includes Smith, whom high school administrators had originally planned to replace during the upcoming season. Smith will be one of three head coaches sharing responsibility for the track program. At the end of the season, he will retire.

News of Smith’s possible replacement angered some parents whose children run track. They asked the school board to intervene and grant Smith, who has coached at the high school for 13 years, another season.

Some details of the agreement are still under negotiation. Smith said Tuesday that he would meet today with district Supt. Thomas Duffy and the other two coaches, Robert Dearborn and Thomas King, to determine who will be responsible for each event.

Board member Gary Cabriales said Tuesday he thought the three-way arrangement would work out well for the team.

“Track and field is one of those sports where there’s so much going on that having co-coaches can really work,” he said.