Coach who was fired by one metro-east school district is hired by another
A former East St. Louis Flyers track and field coach recently fired from his other job at that same district is now set to coach and work security at another.
After retiring in June from coaching at East St. Louis Senior High School, Barry Malloyd continued to work as Mason Clark Middle School’s juvenile transition coordinator and athletic director. He was fired from this second job weeks after he was accused of letting a convicted sex offender be around student athletes — an assertion he vehemently denies.
Cahokia Unit School District 187 Superintendent Curtis McCall Jr. said that, pending paperwork and an orientation process, the district intends to hire Malloyd as the high school’s head boys track and field coach.
“His track record speaks for itself as a champion of children,” McCall said, referencing Malloyd’s multi-decade coaching career.
At its board meeting earlier this month, the district hired Malloyd as a Raptor supervisor. McCall explained Raptor is part of the district’s security system.
One of the main components of Malloyd’s role will be scanning IDs and running automatic background checks to ensure visitors are allowed in school buildings, McCall said. Malloyd’s salary as a Raptor supervisor will be $62,382.
As of now, the district has not determined Malloyd’s coaching salary, should he be hired, McCall said.
Malloyd did not respond to requests for comment, but posted earlier this month on Facebook about his next steps with Cahokia.
“I am thrilled, humbled, ecstatic and grateful for this opportunity and new chapter in my life,” the post reads. “Thank you to the Cahokia Heights School District’s visionary and awesome leadership (for) allowing me to continue the tradition of academic and athletic excellence for all of our students in Cahokia Heights School District.”
Malloyd fired from East St. Louis school district by text
In early June and just days after he retired from coaching, Malloyd learned he was accused of allowing a convicted sex offender around students he coached, allowing that person to access students’ information, and, as a mandated reporter, failing to let anybody know about the convicted sex offender, Malloyd previously told the BND. He said he was also accused of failing to comply with the employee code of conduct.
Malloyd was suspended with pay from his job at the middle school while district officials investigated the claims. Malloyd was told that he would know his job’s fate before the regularly-scheduled June board meeting.
But the district didn’t tell Malloyd he was fired until nearly two full days after the meeting. Malloyd said he was notified via text.
Malloyd and other community members previously told the BND that Earlest Johnson — a man who was charged in 2012 with two felony accounts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a teen boy but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor the next year — had been spotted on campus for football games, track meets and other district events. Johnson told the BND that he has “no dealings with the children at all.”
Malloyd and several of his supporters questioned why Malloyd, who said he didn’t know of Johnson’s criminal history, was getting in trouble, but not others who long allowed Johnson to be at events. Malloyd said he was being used as a “scapegoat.”
Malloyd said that he once asked Johnson to show three student athletes how to run a speed zone drill during practice at the high school. He still maintained that he didn’t know of Johnson’s criminal record, and Johnson also told the BND that he did not disclose his past to Malloyd.
“Those people who knew he was a convicted sex offender should be held accountable, not Barry Malloyd,” Malloyd said in an earlier interview.
While Valencia Hawkins, a spokesperson for the district and its chief human resources officer, said it’s against district policy to publicly discuss personnel matters, she was able to share general information about the district’s policy for vetting volunteers and others who do not work for the district but come in contact with students.
“The District has a rigorous process in place to vet all individuals who are not employed by the district but interact with students on a regular basis. The process includes background checks through the Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as clearance through the Illinois Sex Offender and Violent Offender Against Youth registries. No volunteer or resource person is permitted to work with students until these checks are completed and reviewed.”
There are very few circumstances in which someone on the sex offender registry can be on school grounds or work with students, per Illinois statute and East St. Louis School Board Policy, such as if they are a parent and are there for a specific purpose or have written permission from the school board or superintendent.
Regarding the latter example, no such permission has been granted to anyone as of late June, Hawkins said.