Scyphers Reinstated by District : Baseball: Suspension of Simi Valley High coach ends, but he is given no indication he will be retained next year.

Mike Scyphers was reinstated as Simi Valley High baseball coach Thursday, but he remains unsure if he will be rehired for next season.

Scyphers, who was cleared of accusations of financial and disciplinary improprieties Wednesday by the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, is on a one-year coaching contract, as are all coaches in the district.

School principals submit the names of coaches to the school board for approval each fall. The board typically approves what recommendations the principal makes.

Will Simi Valley Principal Kathryn Scroggin renew Scyphers’ contract for next season?

“That’s the Six-Million-Dollar question,” he said. “She hasn’t given me any indication. Nothing.”

Neither Scroggin nor Supt. Mary Beth Wolford could be reached for comment Thursday night. Both have declined to comment on Scyphers’ situation because it is a personnel matter.

Scroggin has submitted a letter reprimanding Scyphers to the district, said school board member Doug Crosse. The letter contained no recommendation of whether Scyphers should be back as coach, though, Crosse said.

Scyphers, 41, was suspended from coaching May 3, when the police, at the request of the district, began an investigation into his financial and disciplinary practices as baseball coach.

Scyphers, who has coached the Pioneers for 16 seasons, admitted to improperly accepting money for use of the Simi Valley High baseball field, circumventing district channels. Scyphers also admitted using some of the field rental money to pay his assistant coaches.

Also under investigation was a team disciplinary practice called “the block,” in which players bid small sums of money for the right to paddle teammates who violate team rules.

The police concluded their investigation May 27 and submitted their findings to the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, which announced Wednesday that there was not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges.

At school Thursday afternoon, Scyphers was hand-delivered a letter from Wolford informing him that his administrative leave had been lifted. Scyphers had continued as a full-time teacher at the school during his suspension from coaching.

But the baseball season is over, and the school year ends Thursday.

Scyphers said the primary coaching duty that remains this year is the team’s awards banquet. Scyphers said he told administrators that he would not organize the banquet if he was not the baseball coach. The banquet is now scheduled for June 19.

“Banquets are very important to administrators,” Scyphers said. “I hope that was not their ulterior motive (for the reinstatement). I would like to think that I’ve been exonerated.”

Scyphers, who said he has lost 15 pounds and has had trouble sleeping since the investigation began, said he wished Scroggin could have dealt with the matter within the district, rather than involving the police.

“If they don’t want me to be their coach, then just fire me,” Scyphers said. “Don’t drag me through this six-week mess.”