BELLEFONTE — A Bellefonte Area school board member is calling for a public vote on whether former track coach Chris Friedhoff should be reinstated following weeks of continued public pressure.

After roughly an hour of additional public comment at last week’s school board meeting, board member Donna Smith asked the board to formally settle the matter at its next meeting with an up-or-down vote, saying it should be addressed transparently so the district can move forward.

Smith’s request comes as Friedhoff, in his first public statement, said district officials have not explained why he was not reinstated.

Friedhoff coached track and taught biology in the district for more than a decade before resigning his teaching position last summer. In mid-January, he said he received an email from the district’s athletic director informing him that he would not be reinstated as jumps coach for the outdoor track season. Shortly thereafter, at the Jan. 20 school board meeting, his coaching contract was not brought up for renewal alongside other volunteer appointments, even though he had already been approved to coach the indoor track season, which concluded in February. At each school board meeting since, student athletes, parents, alumni and even fellow coaches have asked the board to reconsider.

After a third consecutive meeting where those close to the program advocated for his reinstatement, Smith urged her colleagues to resolve the issue at an upcoming meeting.

“Out of a desire to be both transparent and a good leader by example, I would like to ask that we address the coaching situation in public, so that we can move on,” Smith said. “I know discussing personnel is not correct, but I am requesting an up-or-down vote — maybe at our next meeting.”

Before this, representatives of the district had not commented on the matter, citing personnel policy.

Smith’s request, it appeared, owed much to the advocacy of Bellefonte’s students, who spearheaded efforts to have their coach reinstated.

“The teacher in me, I did want to recognize and thank the students, especially those who rose and spoke out on a topic they were very passionate about. I know that’s very nerve-wracking — it’s difficult for adults to do — and I just wanted to commend them,” Smith said.

“They had good arguments, they were respectful and they were articulate,” she added, noting that those qualities are what she thinks of in a portrait of a BASD graduate.

In a post-meeting conversation with The Express, Friedhoff spoke publicly for the first time about the board’s handling of his potential appointment.

“The school board has not given me a single reason why I’m not being reinstated,” he said.

After receiving that email from the athletic director in January, Friedhoff explained he stepped away from his indoor coaching responsibilities.

“At that point, I stopped going because I didn’t want to cause any issues,” he said.

He then contacted the board and superintendent seeking answers.

“Both just replied with ‘You just don’t have the votes,'” Friedhoff said.

At that point, he said, he attempted to request a conversation and sought clarity on whether the decision was connected to his August resignation, but received no response.

Friedhoff said he left his role as a high school biology teacher amicably over the summer break, giving the district ample time to find a replacement. He said his decision to step away was driven by his own mental health, which suffered under the increasing responsibilities of the role. Over his 12 years in the district he said his workload steadily grew unmanageable.

“It seemed like it was a never-ending addition to the expectations of teachers,” he said. “I could never find enough time in the day to get it all done.”

“They kept on asking more and more of our teachers, just like every school district in the nation, and I was very vocal about how they weren’t supporting us,” he added. “I advocated for my mental health constantly before this… I met with administration, and I either got a very unsupportive response or nothing at all.”

Even after leaving his teaching role, he said he remains committed to his student athletes, whose growth and dedication have been central to his coaching.

“I always felt that I was well liked in the community, but just seeing the outreach has been humbling,” Friedhoff said. “It reminds me why I came to Bellefonte, and why I stayed at Bellefonte.”

He said it has been especially moving to see students, parents and community members advocate on his behalf.

“It is just very humbling to see my students, my athletes, the parents, people I’ve interacted with for years now, stand up and fight for me,” he said.

“The reason I am still devoted to trying to get this position back is because of the student athletes, and how much time and effort I’ve put in with them,” he continued.

Friedhoff said he has not heard of any other applicants for the jump coach position. With the season already underway, he worries the students may not receive the support they need to succeed.

“The reason I’m going through this, we’re going through this, is because the student athletes are really suffering because they don’t have a coach,” he said.