LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Lexington’s Bryan Station High School has suddenly fired its track & field coaching staff, leaving parents and student-athletes wondering what’s next.

The terminations happened within the last week and right in the middle of track & field’s indoor season.

Parents, speaking out on behalf of their children, said they were shocked.

Stephanie Mayberry, a parent of one track & field athlete, said things were going well with the coaching staff.

“Most of my interactions with them were through the ‘Remind’ app,” Mayberry said. “We got motivation quotes from Coach Presley; ways to engage how our students compare, stack up against college students, I really appreciated that and that came from coach Isaiah. And then the next day, they were fired.”

What was most unexpected to everyone was that head coach, Kathy Dodsworth, was let go.

Mayberry said her daughter, Kori, was upset.

“I feel like Coach Dodsworth is really interested in seeing her develop both as a runner and as a person,” Mayberry said. “And I think that’s very important for my daughter and what she needs.”

Mayberry’s daughter, Kori, wrote FOX 56 News the following statement:

I had a pretty good relationship with coach Dodsworth. She helped assist the middle school track team with the throwers and I got to know her a little as well. She is a very kind and sweet and a very determined coach. I just met coach Maliq and coach Isaiah this year but I’m happy that I got to meet them because they are very determined coaches and they made track fun. When I learned about their termination, I had a lot of mixed emotions. I was angry, sad, confused and hurt. I was very hurt because I just met them and I wished they could’ve been our coaches a little bit longer. I want to have all of my coaches back because they made me comfortable, and they made me motivated to always try my hardest and it’s hard to just forget the connections that I made with them, and I would love to keep them as my coaches rather than replace them.

Kori Mayberry

Mayberry expressed frustration with the lack of information from the Byran Station’s athletic department.

“It has to be something egregious that happened for her to be let go right?” Mayberry said. “When the school did send something it was grossly inadequate.”

Abby Jackson, the athletic director at Bryan Station High School, issued a letter to the families on Jan. 26, however, it does not state a reason why the coaching staff was fired.

Warrithah Muhammad is another mother whose daughter is on the track & field team, and her biggest worry is that the team does not have stability.

“Since my daughter has been a freshman on the Bryan Station High School track team, she has had over seven coaches, so every time they get comfortable with a coach, there’s a new coach,” Muhammad said. “I especially feel sorry for our seniors because their freshman year, due to the pandemic, they didn’t have a season, now they’ve had seven different coaches, and it’s impacted offers and scholarships.”

Muhammad said her daughter, along with her teammates, started a petition to have the coaching staff hired back, and so far, it has garnered over a hundred signatures in one day.

“As parents, we just want some transparency, and we just want our coach back. Our coach is the winningest coach of Bryan station high school; We’re just a tight knit family and we just want that family atmosphere back for a very long time,” Muhammed said.

On Monday, Bryan Station High School held a track meeting after school and invited the parents and student-athletes to attend so that it could address some of their questions and concerns.

Former head coach, Kathy Dodworth, released a statement Monday evening addressed to the Bryan Station High School community about her termination, as part of the track & field coaching staff.