Leechburg Area seeks new boys basketball coach
Leechburg Area students and parents erupted in anger and broke down in tears after the school board decided Wednesday not to retain boys basketball coach Damian Davies.
Davies, a teacher in the district, was not kept on as coach of the high school varsity team in the wake of police and district investigations into allegations of hazing.
He was let go despite the objections of students and parents, who called him an excellent teacher, coach, mentor and role model.
Some residents stormed out after the vote. Others voiced their displeasure.
“This is ridiculous,” one person yelled.
“You don't have a basketball team anymore. Thanks,” another cried out.
Davies cried, and his face was wet as he accepted hugs after the meeting, which was held in the gymnasium where the boys basketball team plays. Images of the team adorn the walls of the gym, along with signs with such sayings as, “I bleed basketball.”
Davies declined to comment.
Davies' attorney, Larry Lutz, said the board's decision was “very disappointing.”
The board voted 5-3 against keeping Davies as coach. Voting against retaining him were Joseph Michadick, Anthony Shea, Kathy Vargo, Helen Yurjevich and Terri Smith.
Voting to keep him were Megan Hamm, Angelique Richards and Neill Brady. Director Jean Stull was absent.
The board voted to advertise for a new coach. Lutz said Davies can apply.
Some residents said the decision to remove Davies as coach is based on vendettas against him, stemming from playing time for players. Despite calls for some board members to recuse themselves, district Solicitor Robert Cinpinski said all board members had a right to vote.
Only Brady explained his vote during the meeting. He said he based it on public opinion supporting Davies and his commitment to the program.
The allegations
Leechburg police said in March that allegations of hazing occurring for at least 10 years were valid, but charges would not be filed at that time because the alleged victims didn't want to prosecute or because the alleged hazing did not meet the state's criteria for a crime.
Davies denied having any knowledge of hazing occurring, despite police saying a stick used in the long-running practice was kept in atop a whiteboard used by coaches in the locker room.
Lutz said Davies knew nothing about hazing happening on the team.
The district commissioned a law firm to conduct an investigation. The district received that report in April, but Cinpinski said it is his opinion that it is exempt from public release.
Cinpinski said the district has received three formal Right to Know requests to obtain access to the report. The district has paid Andrews & Price $7,600 for its work on it.
Divided community?
Former school board member Chuck Pascal said the community is divided, and residents might feel differently if the district were more forthcoming with information.
“The public has a right to know what you found,” he said.
A string of incidents that have hit the district in recent months — the hazing investigation, a student in school with a loaded gun, a man with a knife on school grounds and, most recently, a substitute teacher accused of inappropriate contact with female students — “indicate we have a toxic culture here,” Pascal said.
“This is one example after another of vacuous lapses of judgment by this administration,” he said, noting that despite alleged lapses in judgment, all of those personnel are still in their jobs.
Pascal said the district is failing to provide a safe place for students. He cited a lack of leadership from the school board, which he said has put money over children and has made cuts without regard to what's in students' best interests.
“This has to stop,” he said. “You have to start creating a culture here that celebrates children, that creates a safe place for children.”
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer.
