OT- Bellevue (WA) High School FB coach in hot water

Yeah. out here in seattle the sentiment is that of Renault in Casablanca. We're "shocked".

It's been the worst kept secret and an embarrassment to our public education system.

This was standard operating procedure for some of the big Catholic schools that used to feed ND before they lost their mystique.

Is this the feeder system for SEC bagmen? I expect that most of the private schools recruit (shocker!) and reduce/eliminate tuition. But a public school and it's district? That's really effed up!

Encouraging kids to enroll in fake classes for the sake of preserving eligibility should be a crime. 

Good afternoon.

This is a somber day. In our service as educators we are fully committed to supporting and protecting our students. This belief is paramount in the work I do daily. We believe in our students and we strive to build partnerships with our parents in support of our students. We also strive to build positive relationships within our community based on trust and caring. I recognize that trust is shaken in times like this.

I want to acknowledge the unintended, but very real impact the WIAA investigation has had on individuals and members of our community. During the course of the investigation, concerns of racism in the investigative approach were issued, and members of the community called on us to halt the investigation. While we communicated these concerns to the WIAA, the investigation continued. As superintendent I am deeply concerned that my actions did not go far enough to support students who felt the investigation was racially biased.

It is clear to me that students and families have been hurt due to the investigation. I also understand that for many of our racially diverse families, the public discourse and concern of racial bias extends beyond the Bellevue High School football program and has caused pain to those not even associated with the program. To those members of our community I also want to extend my apologies.

The WIAA report obviously contains information that requires immediate attention. At the same time, there are areas that we will look into more thoroughly as recommended in the report.

We know how important athletics are to our students. We believe in the importance of fair play and rules. We are committed to working with the league and the WIAA as we move forward

Through the public records process the district is releasing a redacted copy of the WIAA report on the investigation. The public copy of the report is redacted so that the identities of former and current students cannot be easily identified. I feel very strongly that we should do everything we can to protect our students and see that they are not harmed as a result of this report. We have set up a dedicated email address – [email protected]- that people can use on this specific issue and we will be reviewing everyone’s input.

Included with our release is our initial response with comments and concerns about the investigation and report.

I do want to be clear that we take this report very seriously and we have the responsibility to offer a more detailed and specific response and appropriate actions in the next few days.

This includes a more detailed review of pertinent documents to determine if there were WIAA rule violations and the report of findings to the KingCO conference for review and action. This is according to WIAA rules.

In addition, I am committed to making every effort to rebuild divisions in the community where they exist and restore faith in leadership where there are doubts. I became an educator to make a difference in the lives of students. I believe in our students and know that as superintendent I have the responsibility to create an environment that allows each student to succeed. I take my responsibility very seriously, and recognize that I am accountable to our students, staff, parents and Board of Directors.

I will not be answering any questions about the contents of the report today. I realize that people will have strong opinions about the allegations, how the investigation was conducted, the actions of people that were investigated, the contents of the report, and what actions should be taken.  I urge everyone to exercise restraint and respect for all members of our Bellevue community as we move forward. Over the next few weeks we will continue to communicate with the public on the progress of our next steps in this process.

Thank you.

 

Dr. Tim Mills
Superintendent
Bellevue School District

Athletes get help academically and financially all the time. Any private school that cares about athletics helps get good athletes into school. Cass tech recruits, and helps good football players in every year. Do you think Chris webber paid tuition at country day ?

Maybe Bellevue will put themselves on probation again just to take themselves off again. The only thing sadder is that these "stupid athletes". I'm sure were the same ones that got into D1 schools. The game is fixed.

Also. This is a stock design you can buy through riddell. I doubt there's any licensing.

Scanning through the article, these appear to be the prominent allegations against Bellevue HS:

- Recruited players from outside of the school district and falsified residency records to evade high school athletic rules that prohibited this.

- Obstructed the investigation's attempt to collect evidence on players' actual residency.

- Boosters provided benefits to players' families, including payment of tuition to an alternative high school and actual cash payments to players' families.

- Steered players with eligibility issues to attend an alternative high school that is widely believed to provide little instruction but has a grading policy that keeps students eligible for high school athletics.

I'd like to comment on the last item, because that seems to me to be the most heinous offense, if true.  Let me emphasize, this is high school and we're talking about students doing enough to be allowed to play football.  This is not about education reform, higher academic standards or high stakes testing.  This is showing up often enough and making enough of an effort to turn in your homework (with all the courses, hard or easy, to chose from) to guilt the teacher into giving you a C.  If a student can't even hack that, the coach sends him to a diploma mill to keep him eligible?!  Forget about ready for college (and presumably D1 football), let's think about ready for holding down a job after graduation.  Maybe if you can't stay eligible in your public high school's classes, perhaps you need the cold slap of reality by being told you can't play football.  This coach is not helping these players any, and for what?  A string of HS football championships?  Most of these kids won't even sniff professional football at any level, or steady employment if this is their HS experience.

A couple of caveats.  First, I totally get there are kids with special needs who learn much better in alternative settings.  I'm OK with this, which is why my outrage over boosters footing the bill for alternative HS would be muted if it was actually benefitting the kids.  Second, most of these kids will probably turn out fine.  I know from my own family's experience that people are more likely to be feckless butt-heads in their teen years, but most will wise up and become fully functional adults.  The kid you saw at age 11 or 12 is likely to emerge again by 22.  However, who benefits from letting them play sports, but requiring no effort at school work?  How many remedial courses at community college will these players have to pay for and complete in their 20s, while trying to hold down a low wage job and maybe take care of young kids of their own?

Moreover, the coach's emphasis on how allegedly unfair the investigation was to his football program speaks volumes on his priorities.  Dude needs a time out from coaching to get his head on straight about what's really important in his players' lives.

they're going to get the death penalty.

When you win the state championship 11 times in 14 years, only an idiot would believe there isn't something fishy going on

How so?

There are plenty of schools around the country, granted, especially ones that recruit (and they all don't have to recruit dishonestly), that have such a track record. I commonly see it in girls soccer, tennis, lax, or field hockey.

Are all of those programs fishy too?

You're painting with a very broad brush.

At a game back in 06 I met a guy who was an AD at a private Ohio high school, and his first move to was to change the school helmet to a winged helmet.  I can't remember what school he was in, but obviously a huge Michigan fan in the heart of Ohio.  He said people were sending him death threats over it.