Dakota Bodden received praise in his role as a special education teacher, but he resigned from the Avon school district because of months-long controversy about his coaching decisions. "Dakota resigned at last week's (Sept. 13) board meeting and turned in his resignation the next day," according to Superintendent Tom Culver. However, his future with the district may not have ended for good. After two nearly hour-long executive sessions at Monday's special meeting, the school board tabled action on Bodden's resignation. The action - or lack of it - raised questions among audience members. "Why are you tabling any king of decision on this?" one man asked. Board member Jeff Tolsma indicated his hope that Bodden would return to his position. "He offered (the resignation) to us, and going forward, I would like for things to settle, to see if he would be willing to come back," Tolsma said. "I don't want to shut the door (on anything) until we talk with him." Bodden was not present at Monday's meeting, but he provided a comment Tuesday night for the Press & Dakotan. "I'm just transferring into full-time work on our family farm near Mitchell," he said in an email, declining to go into further detail. In the meantime, other special education teachers will work with Bodden's students, the board indicated in open session. The board would also decide on additional compensation for the teachers and paraprofessionals for their additional time and work. "We just can't pull together numbers tonight. We'll look at it during the October meeting," said board chair Bridgette Muller. Culver spoke with the Press & Dakotan after the meeting. The controversy started last winter, centering around some parents' displeasure with Bodden's decision as a football coach, Culver said, declining to get into details. "It has been 10 months since this started. It's all about the coaching and extra duties. It has never been about his teaching," the superintendent said. "Dakota has done a great job, he's very intelligent and he's well read on special education issues. He knows what he's doing, and a lot of other people on the staff go to him if they have questions because he's able to help them out." Bodden showed strong commitment and initiative toward the school district, Culver said. "Dakota was more than willing to help out," Culver said. "Each summer, he worked with our maintenance guy. During the school year, if we had a home volleyball match and (our custodian) was busy, Dakota would go down, power scrub the gym and set it up. Nobody asked him to do it, and nobody told him to do it." Monday's tabling of the resignation signaled the district's desire to retain Bodden, Culver said. "I would hate to lose him," the superintendent said. "I know one of the school board members is going to make a connection with him. I talked to him once (Sunday) and will talk to him again this week." The district faces a challenge filling Bodden's special education vacancy, Culver said, citing statewide listings of teacher openings. In particular, special education remains one of the most difficult positions to fill by schools of all sizes. "I know area schools that have gone a whole year without finding somebody. I don't want to do that. I don't want to burn out our staff, their health and their sanity," he said. " But we're also dealing with kids who are struggling with some aspects of their education, and I want to continue serving them without interruption. They need extra help and support. Some people in the regular classrooms have offered to give up their (free) period to help out any way they can." As possible alternatives, Culver has looked into possibly hiring recently retired members of the South Central Cooperative that serves area schools with special services. Also, a local resident is serving as a long-term substitute for special education through the end of October and could then become available. "The question is, how do we hold on and get from now through Nov. 1?" Culver asked. A PARENT SPEAKS Monday's meeting, which lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours, was conducted almost entirely in executive session. Monday's audience consisted almost entirely of teachers, with some of them also parents with special-needs children, the Press & Dakotan was told. Additionally, the community members who raised their opposition to Bodden's coaching at several board meetings were not present Monday night, according to those in attendance. The media was excluded Monday from both closed door sessions. However, the board met with school teachers and staff in attendance, along with at least one parents of a special needs child. Matthew Grant, one of those parents, spoke outside the meeting with the Press & Dakotan. His 14-year-old freshman daughter has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. "We moved here (to Avon) in 2020 during the pandemic. Honestly, she blossomed here and has come out of her shell. She has found confidence, and I credit Dakota as her teacher since we moved here," Grant said. "(Bodden) has worked with her every year. He taught her it was OK to be 'weird,' to be herself. Before, she wouldn't look strangers in the eye. At a restaurant, she wouldn't order her own meal or drink. Now, she looks people in the eye and uses complete sentences. She has really bonded with Dakota, and he has been a big part of it. Grant holds no hope of Bodden's return to the Avon school district. "That ship has sailed. He has resigned. I talked to him, and my heart breaks for him and all the stress he has been going through with all this stuff," Grant said. Grant said he has remained in contact with the former teacher. "I talked to Dakota (Monday) over text message. I apologized to him for not standing up and saying something sooner," Grant said. "But I know he's got other plans and he's going to be all right. The main thing is for me and other people to be there, show up and stand up for what's right and stand up for our teachers." Ironically, Bodden was named the Avon school district's Teacher of the Year at the same time he underwent intense scrutiny by some community members of his coaching position, Grant said. "Dakota has always done such an incredible job with the kids," Grant said. "I think the most frustrating part for me is that it mainly concerns the football part of this. He spent minutes and hours and a few afternoons with these kids in football. But that was just a portion of what he did. He spend days and weeks and months and years with these special education kids. He made such an impact." In the end, Avon has lost a valuable special education teacher, Grant said. "With these parents (upset about the coaching aspect), I don't think they counted all the costs of this. It feels like they were just focused on what they wanted and didn't see how many other people this affected, the other kids in school, the other special teachers, all the other teachers, the superintendent, the principal and so many other people," he said. "I don't have all the confidence that the board has our teachers' backs. These teachers who are also parents (of special education students), in my opinion, feel hamstrung and can't say what needs to be said. This whole thing has made me really upset. "This situation has broken a lot of trust," he said. BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE Culver agreed that people who focus on one issue may cause larger damage elsewhere. "I just think the big thing is that people need to realize, they have tunnel vision on one little thing that they think is the problem, but they don't realize how it affects the big picture of the school, "he said. "We've got some kids who are suffering, and it's not fair to them. And we've got some staff who are suffering, and it's not fair to them." Monday's meeting allowed people to express their views and feel heard, which is important, Culver said. In the meantime, he believes the district will meet the challenges before it. "The saying is that it's darkest before the dawn, and hopefully, we're at that point where we're going to get past this and move on," he said." "We're going to do the best we can for the kids.