The actions for Baker and Powell stem from their involvement in an October 2016 game in which Dunbar coaches accused Baker of telling Dunbar to lose to Belmont High School so both teams would qualify for playoffs.
The game also included use of an ineligible player by Dunbar. Dunbar coaches at the time said Baker told them the player was eligible prior to the Belmont game, then said he wasn’t at halftime. That led to the proposal of Dunbar losing on purpose, coaches said.
The State Board of Education ordered Baker to complete 16 hours of ethics training and 40 hours of community service before he can apply for any license, certification or permit from the State Board of Education. He is not eligible to apply for those certifications until Sept. 20, 2025. His former pupil activity permit, which was in effect in 2016, was also revoked.
Elizabeth Lolli, superintendent of Dayton Public Schools, said the sanctions would not affect Baker’s job as there are no certifications from the state required to do it.
Powell is required to complete four hours of ethics training before being eligible to apply for his license again. He has since left DPS and did not respond to requests for comment.
Initially, Powell’s recommended sanctions were much higher — calling for him to be ineligible until September 2024 and requiring significantly more ethics training to reapply for a license — but the state board cited unspecified “mitigating factors” that caused them to reduce the sanctions.
In a separate document, the mitigating factors included, according to ODE, that “Mr. Powell was following the directive of the District Athletic Director in encouraging the team to lose the game with the intended result that the ineligible player would not be reported to OHSAA and/or both teams would end up in the state playoffs.”
The Ohio High School Athletics Association didn’t name individuals in its sanctions against the district in 2017 but said administrators were responsible.
Dayton Public Schools verbally reprimanded Baker for his involvement in December 2016.
Because of the October 2016 incident, DPS was fined $10,000, and its boys and girls sports teams were placed on probation for three years.
At the time, Dunbar’s then-athletic director and boys basketball coach, Pete Pullen, also resigned from his position. Dunbar did not renew contracts with the football coaches.
Since that time, DPS has made changes to its athletics department, hiring Victoria Jones as the executive director of athletics in 2020. Last spring, the school board chose not to rehire three athletics directors — LaShaunta’ Jones, Justin Hunter and Santino Davis — and replaced them with current associate athletic directors, Erin Mullins and Deondra Wynn.
About the Author
