Staff Editorial
In light of recent controversial coaching staff decisions, Mira Costa’s current system of dealing with athletic staff issues and replacements needs revisions in order to properly assess complaints against coaches and protect Costa’s current coaching staff from false accusations.
According to Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale, all official complaints about district personnel are sent to Executive Director of Student Services Ellyn Schneider, who then determines the validity of the complaint. She then makes recommendations for remediation in accordance with Board Policy AR 1312.1 which states the guidelines concerning complaints against district employees. However, this system needs specific complaint guidelines for coaches separate from Policy AR1312.1, which groups all complaints against district employees together under one set of guidelines.
Considering that the investigation regarding Costa baseball coach Cassidy Olson was concluded without any findings of abuse despite excessive parental allegations, Costa needs to re-evaluate the current system.
Rather than determining the validity of complaints through a broad policy in which all district employees are included, Costa should develop a set of guidelines specifically for complaints filed against coaches. Many students feel relationships with coaches are much more personal than with teachers and other staff members. The social aspect between players and coaches differs from that of other district members; thus, coaches should be treated accordingly with separate guidelines.
Within these new guidelines, the administration should require multiple complaints from separate people to consider accusations concerning the safety or abuse of students valid. These types of safety-related situations could not only be detrimental to player-coach chemistry, but could ultimately lead to the loss of a job.
A seasonal review of coaches, conducted by Vice Principal Ian Drummond and Athletic Director Don Morrow, was implemented this year. This consists soley of an exit interview with the head coach. According to Dale, it provides the administration with information regarding a coach’s success, and a report on his or her coaching staff, and a generalization of what the coach can improve during the next year. But this review is mainly “self-evaluative” and is a lackadaisical attempt to assess coaches.
Costa’s administration should seek the input of athletic team captains who can represent their team and provide an assessment of their coaching staff, from the players’ point of view in this “exit evaluation.” This type of review would allow administrators to familiarize themselves with every coach’s style and to make better decisions regarding coaching staff changes.
The establishment of a separate set of guidelines for complaints filed against coaching staff members would benefit the administration’s ability to both assess claims and help protect current coaches.
Leave a Reply