Two parents left footing the bill for an indoor softball facility at Bearden High School filed a complaint against Knox County School administrators alleging an ethics violation.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Knox County Board of Education Ethics Committee heard from complainants Randy Susong, Adam McKenry and former Bearden softball coach Leonard Sams.
The committee found the complaint against several administrators was unfounded.
The men alleged that Bearden High School Principal John Bartlett, Bearden High School Athletic Director Nathan Lynn, Director of Facilities and Construction Douglas Dillingham, and Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre violated ethics rules and failed to follow the proper approval procedure to pass the construction of the facility.
Susong and McKenry both had daughters on the softball team. They said the girls oftentimes had to run through the halls of the school for practice, and believed building an indoor facility would be an investment for their training.
According to the complaint, Susong, the former softball booster club president, and McKenry guaranteed a $40,000 loan by the booster club, which was approved by the Knox County Board of Education in December 2014. By mid-December, documents say the Knox County fire marshal said the construction site was too far from a fire hydrant.
The construction site for the indoor practice facility was moved, but it increased the price from $40,000 to about $70,000. Susong said he and the team secured $30,000 to pay off the additional costs, but Susong and McKenry were left with the original $40,000 loan to pay off.
"We just felt like that we were lied to, and not told the truth throughout the whole process," Susong said.
The complex was dedicated to Sams in March 2015 before the Bearden softball team won state that season. Sams resigned in June 2015.
According to the complaint, a majority of the players on the team then quit the program, including Susong's daughter. The documents say that left the booster club with "no team and no ability to fundraise."
"We're having to kind of fund that on our own, as well as take care of everything else so it's leaving an impact on us," Susong said.
Now, the 4,200-square-foot building with eight hitting stations and two pitching alleys comes out to a payment of $750 a month split between Susong and McKenry.
The two said at the meeting Tuesday afternoon the administrators and the athletic programs at Bearden gained from the use and construction of the indoor facility.
Administrators responded that their actions were done in good faith.
"We didn't gain anything. There's nothing unethical about it," Bartlett said. "There was no personal gain about this. We were following school board policy, and that's what we did."
A state investigation into the issue released last month found the Knox County Board of Education allowed a nonprofit organization to construct a softball training facility on school property. It also found that the Bearden High School Softball Booster Club had "operating deficiencies."