Dozens of parents and student-athletes who attended Monday night’s Moon Area School Board meeting called for the reinstatement of an assistant gymnastics coach and accused one board member of pursuing a “vendetta” against the gymnastics program.

Nick Price, the former assistant coach, was let go in April after former Moon Area athletic director Ron Ledbetter told leaders of the gymnastics program that it “would not be approved to use the school for the recreational program” if Price remained on staff, according to a letter from the Moon Area Gymnastics Association.

The nonprofit gymnastics program operates independently, but receives funding from the school district and uses its facilities, officials said. It has won eight WPIAL championships since 2008 and four straight state titles.

Parents at Monday’s meeting accused school board member Crystal Barr, who is up for reelection in November, of triggering Price’s departure by circulating photos of him that were posted on social media.

The photos showed Price in a Speedo bathing suit, and a video that parents said Barr also circulated showed two men kissing, though it remains unclear if Price was in that video based on parents’ comments Monday night.

Barr did not speak during the roughly two-hour meeting. She declined comment when approached after the meeting.

Nicole Daugherty, another coach with the program, said the circulation of the photos and Price’s subsequent removal “felt like blackmail.”

Parent Diana Scally, whose daughter participates in the gymnastics program, said she thought Barr should be barred from voting in the future on recreational or sports-related matters “due to a blatant conflict of interest.”

“She is using her position as a school board member to carry out a vendetta,” Scally told the audience, which lined the meeting room’s floors and spilled into the hall. “Our fear is that, if Crystal is reelected, the Moon gymnastics program will not survive her four-year term.”

“We believe Nick rightfully deserves to be part of Moon gymnastics,” added Abby Lubitz, a Moon Area High School junior who is a member of the gymnastics squad.

Scally also submitted a petition, signed by more than 1,200 residents, calling for Price’s reinstatement.

“This situation originated when Crystal Barr’s daughter was not able to meet the Moon Varsity Gymnastics Team attendance requirements during the WPIAL season due to her participation in competitive gymnastics at a private club,” the petition said. “Since then, Crystal has openly stated her mission is to remove Amy Caprino as head coach to make Moon Gymnastics better, and has spread misinformation about Nick Price to the community in an attempt to defame his character.”

Caprino, the program’s longtime coach, said during the meeting: “I’ve been an open book always. This whole thing could have been avoided if you had just asked (about the program). We are all about team. And that is as simple as it gets.”

Board president Amy Stuart ended the meeting by telling parents the board “will definitely take that information and discuss it.”

Other board members jumped to Barr’s defense or tried to assure the public that school officials were not looking to dismantle the gymnastic program.

“There isn’t one person on this board, including Mrs. Barr … that wants to do any harm to the program,” board member James Bogotay said. “But no one, nothing, no program is above the district. And we’re entitled to ask questions.”

Bogotay also said it would be illegal to stop Barr, an elected official, from voting on any school board matter.

“You are the program,” assistant superintendent Jason D’Alesio told the student-athletes assembled Monday. “You girls are why this program is so successful.”

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