Oskaloosa community divided over decision to part ways with activities director Ryan Parker

Oskaloosa school opted to not renew contract of current activities director after 11 years on staff

Ryan Parker led Oskaloosa to a state basketball champion before taking on his current role as activities director. / Bryon Houlgrave, The Register

Members of the Oskaloosa community are divided over a decision made by the school board. 

Activities director Ryan Parker was told in November that his contract would not be renewed following the conclusion of the 2024-25 school year. Parker has held that role for 11 seasons, with the school experiencing plenty of athletic success during that time.

Superintendent Mike Fisher addressed the matter during a school board meeting recently. Almost 400 signatures had been signed through a petition in support of Parker, who overcame a kidney transplant in 2020.

As we reviewed the petition, there’s probably quite a few questions if it’s actually a valid petition,” Fisher said (thanks to KCCI.com for the quotes). “They have to be electors within the area of our school boundaries. There’s a lot of signatures on there that are probably questionable.

“But we felt, even though we probably could have declared the petition invalid, we wanted to respond to the community. We’re just giving them opportunity to speak and let the board hear them. We can’t respond. There’s no action to be taken.”

Several people spoke up during the meeting, both in favor of Parker and in support of the school’s decision to find a new director. 

“We’re looking at visionary leadership and what we can do to really accelerate the health and culture of our activities across our organization,” Fisher said. “I respect people’s disagreement at times, and again, I have to do the most good for the most people.”

Under Parker’s watch, Oskaloosa captured the 2016 state softball championship and 2019 boys state basketball title. They have made six state football appearances, a state baseball trip and five state softball appearances. Of the 34 banners hanging in the rafters, 18 have come with Fisher as activities director.

Haylee Parker, one of Ryan’s children, said during the meeting, “You two (directed towards the superintendent and another employee) told my dad that he did nothing wrong, yet he gets punished by not renewing his contract.”