Shelley superintendent apologizes as parents, students seek closure

SHELLEY — Shelley Joint School District 60 Superintendent Bryan Jolley offered a public apology Thursday in response to ongoing criticism of the district’s handling of a personnel issue.

“I feel we made errors,” Jolley said, “As a board and as an administration there are things we could have done differently.”

Around 200 Shelley residents turned up at the school board meeting Thursday night. The topic on everyone’s mind was again on the controversy involving former Shelley High School Athletic Director David Hadley.

This time, however, most people seemed to be looking for closure rather than to directly criticize the district.

Hadley had been charged with misdemeanor battery after allegedly touching a female student inappropriately. The charge against him was dropped after he resigned from his position earlier this month.

At the time, Shelley City Prosecutor Garrett Sandow told EastIdahoNews.com that prosecutors and the family agreed to drop the misdemeanor charge if Hadley resigned from his position.

Thursday’s meeting was held in the Shelley High School Little Theater to accommodate the large amount of people who showed up. Prior to the meeting, Delynn Bradshaw, the father of the student who accused Hadley of abuse, handed out a press release criticizing the district’s handling of the resignation.

But much of the information in the release wasn’t addressed in the meeting after the superintendent apologized. He offered the apology to the family and the community before others were allowed to speak.

“My hope is as a community we draw back together, put this chapter behind us and work together to make a brighter future for our school district,” Jolley said.

He went on to directly apologize to the student for any misconceptions and complimented on her bravery. Jolley ended with saying how much he enjoyed being part of the district and owned up to mistakes. He expressed the board’s desire to do better.

The crowd gave Jolley a standing ovation – with the student’s father leading the way. After the ovation, Board Chairman Jamey Higham, overcome with emotion, struggled to announce rules for the public input section of the meeting. He was eventually able to do so and turned the time over to the student, who was the first of seven public speakers.

“I don’t feel like what I wrote is really relevant,” she said. “I felt like Superintendent Jolley was very sincere with what he had to say and just wanted to tell him thank you.”

After the student spoke, her father, Delynn Bradshaw, expressed his thanks to people who have supported his family. He encouraged the board to heed the warnings of parents and the community. He also thanked Jolley for the remarks he made.

“We need to be united as a community and not pulling against one another in our efforts to improve,” Bradshaw said. “After this meeting, the Bradshaw’s will have closure on the incident that took place in that hall. I publicly and in all sincerely offer to sit down and close this with him (Hadley) as well. If not now, this offer will always be open.”

A few other speakers encouraged the board to continue to be better and expressed support for the tough jobs they have.