The Board of Education came to their final decision to discontinue the contract of soccer coach Russell Oost-Lievense on May 12. This decision came after a verbal conflict that took place on a team retreat in August.
After a 90-minute deliberation, the Board of Education voted 5-1 to uphold Scarice’s decision of non-renewal, with Robert Harrington the lone vote against. Since this decision, many community members have accused the Board’s decision as biased and unfair.
“There was definitely a lot of evidence that I feel would have been relevant that was just cleared as irrelevant,” boys’ soccer captain Zach Beebe said, “and I feel like that was a result of the mediator, [who] was hired by the school which he’s supposed to be a completely unbiased third party.”
Scarice suspended Oost-Lievense after a report of a verbal argument between a player and assistant coach Harry O’Campo that happened on a team retreat in August. The anonymous tip reported the incident to Athletics Director VJ Sarullo, and the student involved in the alleged incident later corroborated it. Following the report, Scarice declined to renew the contracts for three of the team’s coaches.
During the hearing, Although Scarice was unable to comment on the issue, he noted that the 14 hour hearing prior to the decision contained valuable information.
“There was a 14 hour hearing [and] both sides had an opportunity to share their perspectives on a number of issues,” Scarice said.
Per board policy, following state law, any coach who has been in a position for three consecutive years or more has due-process rights if dismissed. The Board of Education acts as a jury in these cases and remains impartial before the hearing. To appeal the non-renewal, the board must decide that the Superintendent acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner.
“I first got involved with the tennis parents, helping them determine what the gaps are in how the Board of Ed is handling this and what should be fixed to make sure the process is fair,” soccer parent Joan Gillman said. “Directly, I got involved, wearing more of a professional hat in terms of governance and helping the tennis parents.”
The issue at the center of many Westporters concerns is that the mediator, appointed by the Board, had previously sided against the coach in an alternate series of events. Several adults have voiced their concerns through the public comment section of the BOE’s May 15 meeting, and students have done the same: whether that be posting on Instagram or staging a walkout.
“Russ stood up for us,” @wreckersforruss on Instagram wrote. “Now we stand up for him, and for every coach and teacher who could be next.”
Board of Education members Lee Goldstein and Dori Hordon declined to comment until the hearing of the second coach, freshman coach Chris O’Deil, whose hearing date is still not set. However, they noted that the Board is writing a written decision of the majority opinion for the public.
This incident isn’t the first renewal issue administration has dealt with this school year, and this series of conflicts between coaches and students has fueled questions of coach policy and accurate training. In light of the events, coaches, athletic director VJ Sarullo and the Board of Education are collaborating to create a coaches’ handbook for the upcoming school year.
“The school has never had a coach’s handbook, and at least currently, does not have one. We’re in the process of creating one, so there will be one in place for next year,” Sarullo said. “But in the absence of that, the communication at our preseason meetings is how we kind of get that information out to coaches.”
