TELL a TALE to cover a TAIL

Memory lane.

Basden is hired by Wooten and Noah and soon after was able to force parents to pay large sums of money for their children to be a part of the faMily, saying it would finance an indoor practice facility and the equipment. TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THAT TALE.

Under them, Principal Lindsey and Superintendent Wooten’s leadership, Basden and a few of his choice coaches were caught receiving bonuses at the Taxpayer’s expense (investigation revealed it had been going on for years). Only AFTER being caught, Wooten, Lindsey and Basden conducted a thorough internal investigation and said they were “Cooperating” and would put measures in place to avoid future violations The Ethics Investigation issued a warning if incidents of this nature happened in the future, there would be penalties. TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THAT TALE.

Basden, Lindsey, & Wooten fire coaches that don't go along with the faMily plan, replacing them with coaches that will do as they are told and take the fall when caught. Coaches are hired for their coaching assignments and then either put in a classroom somewhere until time to go to athletic P.E.to train football players. Basden builds his circle by hiring college students as assistant coaches that are children of principals, administrators, employees, etc. TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THIS TALE.

Basden, Wooten, Lindsey sell the city council on financing with TAXPAYERS MONEY, a mega athletic facility compound touting the community use thereof. Millions of dollars are financed, and city budgeted for Basden to control the usage of the facility. Hence the “public facility/track” is under chains and locks to keep the public out. TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THAT TALE.

Balentine pleads GUILTY to physically abusing his wife/breaking her nose and is arrested by Florence Police November 2015. Because the faMily is in state playoffs, Basden tells Lindsey he is going to “suspend” Balentine for one playoff game to “teach him a lesson”. AFTER A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION, Lindsey determined Balentine to be an exemplary employee and will work with him. Taxpayers need to realize, Balentine only coaches weight training for football athletes for 90 minutes a day and is the athletic facility manager, giving an ample amount of free time on his hands to have an affair with one of his co-workers in the high school. TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THAT TALE.

Basden and Balentine were reported by Times Daily to have contacted a football player at Wilson High School, visited and talked to him and his father about transferring to MSCS, promising a better education and scholarships.The boy’s dad rented an apartment in Muscle Shoals and paid for utility services in December 2015.

AFTER the AHSAA became involved, Lindsey, Basden, Balentine and principal Holden denied knowledge of the child, until proven otherwise. After weeks of “negotiating” with AHSAA, Muscle Shoals is given a token reprimand and minimum sanctions by AHSAA. Only then would Lindsey and Holden respond to the public with a written statement, refusing interviews. Once again, AFTER BEING CAUGHT, Lindsey and Holden go on the record saying, they have conducted a THOROUGH INVESTIGATION and PUT MEASURES IN PLACE TO AVOID FUTURE VIOLATIONS, while 2 months earlier, Lindsey described Balentine as an EXEMPLARY EMPLOYEE. Lindsey and Holden admit Balentine should not have returned phone calls on his cell phone.

Ask yourself, how did the student at Wilson get Balentine’s WORK PHONE CELL NUMBER? Could it have been given to him when Basden and Balentine visited them? Balentine’s mistake was not getting a TRAC PHONE like Basden does.If AHSAA suspends Balentine’s coaching certification, what exactly will he be on the Taxpayer’s payroll for? Legally, he has to be placed in a classroom that he is certified to teach. We all know MSCS is all about self imposed reporting and moral integrity. Where will Balentine be on Monday, Feb. 22? If Balentine is in the athletic facility, working with football players, that in itself is a violation. THE TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THIS TALE.

What Basden can do, promise HE will take the boys to a BOWL GAME (paid for by their fees and fundraisers) if they will stay on the team and not go to other school systems.What Lindsey and Holden can do, appeal the AHSAA ruling and continue to accuse everyone else of lying.THE TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THIS TALE.

LACK OF INSTITUTIONAL CONTROL, MORAL INTEGRITY, AND HONESTY.A SYSTEM OUT OF CONTROL WITH NO ACADEMIC CORE AND COMPASS.

THE TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THIS TALE OF A TALE.


Leslie M. Shoals