SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — South Orange-Maplewood residents are concerned about the positions of Columbia High School varsity baseball coaches Joseph Fischetti and Matthew Becht, following an email sent by the team’s booster club president to parents of returning players, in which he mentions that Superintendent of Schools John Ramos Sr. may not recommend that the two be reappointed for the next season.
In the Aug. 22 email, William Krais urged parents to let Ramos and the Board of Education know their feelings about the coaches ahead of that evening’s board meeting in case board members were planning to discuss the coaches. Doing so was necessary, according to Krais, because the booster club board apparently had been informed that jobs of the two coaches may be in jeopardy.
“We have learned that the superintendent may not recommend to the school board the reappointment of Coaches Fischetti and Becht for this coming season,” Krais wrote in the email, adding that a lack of a recommendation would come despite the fact that “the coaches enjoy the support of nearly all of the players and, from what we’ve heard, many of you. This is also despite the fact that they continue to enjoy the support of both (CHS Principal Elizabeth) Aaron and (CHS Athletic Director Larry) Busichio.”
Krais declined to comment to the News-Record about his email, which had been forwarded to the newspaper. Busichio told the News-Record said he was unable to comment.
Speaking on behalf of both the Board of Education and the South Orange-Maplewood School District, spokeswoman Suzanne Turner said that Ramos has not yet made a recommendation to the board regarding the CHS baseball coaching staff. Turner also told the News-Record that the board has not made any decisions regarding Fischetti, Becht or fellow baseball coaches Samuel Maietta and Steven Campos. She said the board members will likely appoint coaches for the 2017 baseball season by no later than their February meeting, when they typically do so.
Meanwhile, Turner said that the baseball coaches’ positions will be posted on the SOMSD job listings soon — probably in the fall. But this does not mean that the district is looking for new coaches. The spokeswoman said the district is required by law to post the jobs every year, even if it has incumbent coaches that it wants to reappoint.
Steve Farsiou, the attorney representing Fischetti and Becht, told the News-Record that he does not believe Ramos has directly communicated with his clients regarding this matter, but said the two deserve to be reappointed based on their track records at the school. Farsiou said each coach has more than a decade of experience coaching at CHS — their alma mater — with Fischetti also serving as a teacher in the SOMSD for 16 years.
In that time, Farsiou said the two helped establish a successful baseball program where every student is treated the same way, which is why they are respected by the New Jersey high school baseball community. And considering how this past baseball season went, he said he does not see how the reappointment of Fischetti and Becht is in doubt.
“There wasn’t one issue that occurred in 2016,” Farsiou said in an Aug. 29 phone interview. “What happened here for them to even be contemplating not rehiring these guys? You’re talking about two guys who have consistently built a program and did it the right way, have sent kids to play college baseball and have taught them how to be men.”
The possibility of Fischetti and Becht not being reappointed comes after the district hired independent investigator LeRoy Seitz to look into allegations of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying against all four baseball coaches. The results of that investigation will not be made public, per district policy.
It also comes after David DeFranco, a former CHS baseball player, filed a lawsuit alleging that Fischetti, Becht, Maietta and Campos bullied him repeatedly. Specifically, DeFranco alleges that the coaches used “lewd, racist and vulgar” language and used expletives when making reference to himself and his teammates. After being cut and then reinstated, he alleges he was often told he would be playing in games only to be benched, with the coaches later joking about how well he had played. He also alleges the coaches at one point did not remove an offensive sign that had been posted about another player.
DeFranco’s suit additionally includes incidents from 10 HIB complaints that DeFranco and teammate Alex Nathan filed against the coaching staff from August 2014 through August 2015. Those complaints alleged that the coaches created a hostile environment for Alex Nathan by talking about him to other players and benching him while all others played; the Booster Club asked DeFranco and his family not to attend the end-of-year of banquet; and the coaches at one point cut both boys from the team after DeFranco and Alex Nathan’s father Randy complained to the district about the coaches’ treatment of the team in general.
The recently departed Phil Stern, the district’s anti-bullying coordinator at the time, initially ruled that all but one of the cases were not HIB — the exception being an alleged incident in which the coaches locked DeFranco in a room and yelled at him for complaining to the district about them. Yet Ramos verified all 10 complaints upon entering the district in August 2015. Some of these complaints were then investigated by Seitz; his findings are not public.
But, according to Farsiou, his clients Fischetti and Becht are not bullies. After reviewing the documents he received upon recently taking their case, he said it is clear that the district never properly followed the state Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act. Particularly, he explained that the investigations into the complaints against the coaches were not carried out within the required 10-day timeframe and that no coach was ever alerted to the fact that the alleged incidents were being investigated. He said there is no factual evidence proving that the coaches ever engaged in HIB.
Saying that Fischetti and Becht “bleed red and black,” they will be very disappointed if they are not reappointed as baseball coaches, Farsiou said. And while they respect Ramos and the board members, he said they will request a hearing to defend themselves if they are not hired as their reputations are at stake.
Still, Farsiou said he hopes the board will reappoint the coaches instead of trying to appease a few parents. Having handled numerous anti-bullying cases in the past, the attorney said he has seen parents try to target coaches they simply do not like using the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act. He said rehiring Fischetti and Becht will be the district’s opportunity to prevent that from happening in the SOMSD. Otherwise, he said, the wrong message will be sent.
“That means the parents are running the asylum over there, and that cannot happen,” Farsiou said. “You have to put your foot down and you have to support your coaches or you’re going to create a big-time mess for your school.”
Randy Nathan has a different opinion on what the district should do. The former baseball parent, who has made no secret of the fact that he wants all four coaches to be let go, said finding a new coaching staff would give the SOMSD the chance to start fresh and create a baseball program without a culture of bullying. He said it would also provide justice for his son, showing him that he did nothing wrong and allowing him to move forward from that difficult period of his life.
This is not the first time that Fischetti and Becht are facing the possibility of not being reappointed as coaches. Several parents voiced their concerns about the coaching staff to the district and BOE when it came time for the board to reappoint them, Maietta and Campos for the 2015 and 2016 baseball seasons. But many parents and players have also come to the coaches’ defense, denying the four had ever engaged in bullying and praising how they work with students. At one point many of the players signed a petition supporting the coaches, while coaches, administrators and staff throughout the state and district have also written letters in favor of them.
Despite ongoing controversy, the coaching staff once again led their players to a successful baseball season. The varsity team won the SEC Conference Title for the second straight year and finished with a record of 17-10. Fischetti was also selected to coach the 2016 Essex/Union Underclassmen All-Star Game in June.