Bowling Green Coach Removed

[bernies]

If she was one reprimanded, why was her staff fired?

No one is discussing the fast that the administration fired her staff. I've never heard of that.

[jericho]

So making fun of/scrutinizing kids who take prescription medication for things they can't control is ok now? You need help. Winning a bunch of games doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want too, and coach J has learned that lesson that hard way.

 

Was you there to hear her make fun of the kid. Did she really make fun of the kid or just wonder why the kid couldn't concentrate and asked if she had had her meds.

 

I need help? Are you kidding me, I never said it was okay to make fun of a kid. You know who needs help? These sissy crybaby kids and parents. I guess they think life is going to be so kind to them and everything will be a bowl full of cherries.

[Wireman]

To add onto what I said last night...I enjoyed playing for a coach who was hard on us. I feel like he demanded everything we had to give and it worked.

[All Tell]

I graduated from high school in 1978 and I don't remember my coaches using profanity, in fact I remember them chastising players cussing and trust me the coaches were plenty hard on us otherwise.

 

If this coach was reprimanded for language aimed at players and she continued then her termination is warranted. The fact that the school district is going to pay her coaching stipend when they are under no obligation to do so seems very fair to me. HS coaches are on a year to year contract so they can be terminate at will.

[PP1]

This is a tangled web. According to the documents posted here from the newspapers it claims that she violated the code of ethics. My understanding is that violating the code of ethics should not result in you only losing you coaching job. What is the logic in keeping her as a teacher?

@All Tell Also the school is indeed obligated to pay her the coaching stipend because, by law, the district has to tell her by April 30th (I think that is the day) if her salary will be reduced. Coaches are on year-to-year contracts but they cannot be fired "at will." There is a process involved, at least when a coach is also a certified teacher.

 

I'll also say that when things like this happen and fans jump all over principals over "unjust termination of coaches" usually the Principals are right and the public simply does not know all the facts. I believe that principals do not enjoy firing people and would prefer to worry about academics and not athletic drama.

[Voice of Reason]

The timing of all the firings is an interesting angle for discussion that raises questions.

[jericho]

Cussing a player and cussing because of a player is not the same.

[DragonFire]

I graduated from high school in 1978 and I don't remember my coaches using profanity, in fact I remember them chastising players cussing and trust me the coaches were plenty hard on us otherwise.

 

If this coach was reprimanded for language aimed at players and she continued then her termination is warranted. The fact that the school district is going to pay her coaching stipend when they are under no obligation to do so seems very fair to me. HS coaches are on a year to year contract so they can be terminate at will.

 

I believe the article indicated that they are actually obligated to do so because it came after a certain point. It was hazy on the bit because she had not signed something, but it didn't seem that they knew if there would be a legal basis to not pay the stipend.

[Wireman]

I have never found a situation where I can get fired and still earn pay for a year.

[16thBBall Fan]

This is a tangled web. According to the documents posted here from the newspapers it claims that she violated the code of ethics. My understanding is that violating the code of ethics should not result in you only losing you coaching job. What is the logic in keeping her as a teacher?

@All Tell Also the school is indeed obligated to pay her the coaching stipend because, by law, the district has to tell her by April 30th (I think that is the day) if her salary will be reduced. Coaches are on year-to-year contracts but they cannot be fired "at will." There is a process involved, at least when a coach is also a certified teacher.

 

I'll also say that when things like this happen and fans jump all over principals over "unjust termination of coaches" usually the Principals are right and the public simply does not know all the facts. I believe that principals do not enjoy firing people and would prefer to worry about academics and not athletic drama.

 

May 15 is the date, you can let a coach go before this date and do not have to give a reason, if they are let go after this date you either have to pay their coaching salary or show a legal reason that they were dismissed for so that you don't have to pay them.

[PP1]

I have never found a situation where I can get fired and still earn pay for a year.

 

Then you have never been fired from a coaching job after May 15th.

[oldgrappler]

How would you like to be the next coach with a mandate that your staff and roster reflect the racial make up of the school? The fact that this coach remains employed at the school says this was not an issue of misconduct and lends credibility to the assertions of the coach. I think we all know what parents are capable of.

 

That allegation is far from proved true. It could be sour grapes. It is a serious allegation and there must be facts to support it. Otherwise, it is slander.

 

On the face of it, I cannot imagine a Principal admitting his actions were racially motivated, even if they were. In this day and age, that will get you fired quickly. So the allegations don't have the ring of truth to me. It is possible these things were said but not probable. That is why we must wait for an investigation into it before holding the person accountable.

 

My Open Letter to the African-American Community of Bowling Green, Kentucky | Dr. TaKeia

 

Thoughts?

 

I do not have any knowledge of past racism in BG to which Dr. Takeia refers. But reading her open letter, it seems Dr. Takeia has no knowledge of the current situation, other than what has been alleged. So it seems that her call to boycott BGHS sports is terribly premature and unfair to the school and its student-athletes. This would be an appropriate action only if the allegation is shown to be true and if, once known, there are no actions taken by the school to apologize for the larger issue of racism and take significant tangible steps to correct the problem. If the allegations were proved to be true and the school apologized to the coach and reinstated her, and apologized for the general historic racism, and took significant, tangible actions to address the issue (like firing the Principal), then no boycott should be called for.

 

All that the open letter does is stir the pot, heat up any racial tension that exists, and potentially slanders the Principal and the school, and excuses the inappropriate behavior of the coach (if she indeed was fired for legitimate inappropriate behavior).

 

The memorandum from the Superintendent gave specific incidences of misconduct. You can be sure there were many others that he didn't detail in the memorandum. These kinds of things are not done on a whim. They have to build their case and make sure it is rock solid, especially in dealing with one where the accused will counter with a charge of racism. They could be sure this would happen since she apparently alleged that back when her assistants were fired.

 

Telling a girl privately that she needs to take her medication because without it she "acts crazy" may be uncouth, but not worth firing someone in my opinion. I think this is probably the last straw of many instances where the coach was inappropriate towards the players. That will all be documented by the administration just in case there is a challenge to their decision, as there has been in this case.

 

I will be surprised if the coach is able to reverse any of the decisions that have already been made and in fact will give the school system the opportunity to make public the various bits of evidence of misconduct that they have against her.

[BirdBrain]

The initial report (based on the former coach's statement) doesn't sound good and is really bad if true. But if it's because she was using inappropriate language, that's on her, not "sissy parents."

 

As a coach, I can tell you that's definitely in the top 3 of things you cannot do. If that's the reason she was fired, she has nobody to blame but herself.

 

Are you saying that cursing is a Top 3 terminable offense for a coach ? I believe this is location / sport specific

[Bluegrasscard]

Someone posted this article in the comments of the open letter by Dr. Takeia:

 

Memorandum: Johnson fired for not treating students "with dignity and respect" | Prep Sports | bgdailynews.com

 

This article had reference to number of players practicing in June and July:

 

"...

 

The memorandum ends with Fields expressing lack of confidence that Johnson would have enough players to field competitive teams (varsity, junior varsity, freshman) for the 2017-18 season.

 

 

In a meeting on July 31, the memorandum cites that Johnson acknowledged she only averaged “10 to 12 students, including junior high students, attending practices in June, and only five to six students attending in July.”

 

..."

Not knowing the basketball schedule or off-season schedules is it expected to have rosters filled out and players practicing as units in the summer? Is this a valid issue that may reflect that students were avoiding the program?

[oldgrappler]

^ that is a very good point. The issues enumerated by the school for firing the coach were specific instances of misconduct by the coach and the fact that there is some evidence that players do not want to play for this coach. The latter fact would be reason enough to initiate a change. It certainly indicates that the coach is losing rapport with student-athletes. It may indicate that her demeanor is as described in the memorandum.