A surprise decision earlier this month has divided a Union County district and left its girls soccer program without a coach just two months before the start of the upcoming season.
The Berkeley Heights Board of Education voted against the rehiring of Gov. Livingston girls soccer coach Mike Roof at a meeting on June 10, ending his 21-year tenure with the program. Roof led the Highlanders to their second state title in program history in 2018.
Roof says he was blindsided by the Board’s decision, where six of the eight board members specifically voted not to rehire the girls soccer coach, and one member abstained.
“I am highly disappointed in the actions of the Board of Education,” Roof told NJ Advance Media. “I’ve been a dedicated coach and teacher in this district for 21 and 18 years, respectively. I was not given any due process. Nor was I given any indication or notice, nor any viable reason why the board would go against the recommendation of the administration.”
Roof’s rehiring appeared to be a foregone conclusion. His position, at a stipend of $8,754, was listed along with 25 other fall season coaches on the June 10 agenda, ‘upon the recommendation of the Acting Superintendent.’ All other candidates were unanimously approved.
That vote caused a stir in the Gov. Livingston community.
Defenders voiced their support for Roof later in the month at a June 20 meeting, backing the long-time coach 10 days after the vote against him. There was no further discussion about the coaching position at that point, however, and as of now, the Highlanders still don’t have a coach.
Roof is a Gov. Livingston alum who became the girls soccer coach in 2003. In the past 21 years, Roof compiled a career record of 258-148-17. That includes a 21-4 season in 2018 that ended with a 3-2 championship victory over Ramsey in the Group 2 final. It was Gov. Livingston’s second overall girls soccer state title and first championship since 1985.
Roof is still a teacher in the district at Columbia Middle School in Berkeley Heights.
His brother, Chris, is the head coach of the school’s storied baseball program.
Athletic Director Ann Clifton declined to comment, citing a district policy regarding personnel decisions. Robert Nixon, the principal of Gov. Livingston and acting superintendent, also declined to comment when reached by NJ Advance Media. He did give a statement at the beginning of the June 20 Board meeting that addressed outreach from parents and people in the community on behalf of Roof.
“Since the June 10 board meeting, the Board and I have received many communications from the community regarding this topic,” said Nixon, who took over as Acting Superintendent this year after Dr. Melissa Varley stepped down at the end of December. “I want to share with you that we hear your feedback. We understand your feedback and we appreciate everyone who took the time to share their feedback with us. We have engaged in discussions and conducted both personnel and Athletics Committee meetings to discuss our best path forward. I would like the Board and our school community to know that we respect everyone’s position on this topic and I want to thank Ann Clifton and the Board of Education for their willingness to have discussions regarding our next steps. I’m hopeful in the near future we will be able to move forward in a way that best supports our student athletes.”
That meeting did not officially have Roof on the agenda, but a New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) representative and three parents took the opportunity to express their opinions about the situation during a session for comments from the public.
Kristin Jakubowski, a parent of a current player, spoke out at that meeting and said that Roof “was not made aware of any complaints from last season and was not told before the 2023 season of any concerns that needed to be addressed or fixed during that season.”
Glen Robertson, Union County union president and consultant for the NJEA, expressed the same concerns that Roof had and pointed out the lack of transparency as to why Roof was not rehired despite being recommended for the position by the Gov. Livingston administration.
“(The Board) was able to agree that a coach who had dedicated himself to the district with 21 years of unbroken service should be dismissed with no notice, no investigation and a possible violation of an ethics code that they have sworn to uphold,” Robertson said. “The coaching and larger educational community in Union County is a tight-knit community dedicated to the students and athletes as well as vigorously defending our rights. We are paying close attention to this process. This Board of Education needs to be better.”
Two other parents also asked the Board about the specific reason for its decision and questioned the timing of it, wondering what will happen with captains’ practices and summer soccer leagues starting in July with no knowledge of who will coach Gov. Livingston next fall.
The next scheduled Board of Education meeting is on Aug. 8 - less than three weeks before regular season games can be played and 11 days before the first official practice.
“I know a lot of members on this Board have run on a platform of transparency, but I don’t see any transparency here. We’re talking about a coach who’s had over 20 years of dedication,” said Mark Simon, a parent of a current player. “My daughters have played for a lot of different coaches and no one has shown the passion that Coach Roof has shown. To take this away from him is really despicable in my mind. No reason given. It’s shocking that this decision was made and there’s been no information at all as to whether or not he’s going to be the coach again.
“These girls have no idea if they’re even going to have a coach or a team next year.”
Brandon Gould can be reached at bgould@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @BrandonGouldHS.
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