MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The attorney for two of the Columbia High School baseball coaches accused of bullying and the parent of one of the players they allegedly targeted are both appealing some of the findings from the independent investigation conducted into the coaches’ actions.
Steve Farsiou, the lawyer for the head varsity coach, Joe Fischetti, and the assistant varsity coach, Matt Becht, and Randy Nathan — the father who has long claimed his son Alex was repeatedly bullied by the coaches — both went before the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education in private hearings on Sept. 19, to plead their cases. The board is now deliberating and will make its ruling by its next meeting.
The summary HIB result documents that Superintendent of Schools John Ramos Sr. sent to the coaches — which the CHS Baseball Boosters provided to the News-Record — only labels one incident that investigator LeRoy Seitz looked into as being HIB. That was the use of “inappropriate language” against players in 2014, with the document further stating that the coaches received training programs and administrative oversight after it occurred. The rest of the documents stated that there was not enough evidence to substantiate the other cases Seitz investigated, which included allegations that the coaches cut players from the team out of retaliation, benching and trash talking about a player and harassing a player in their office.
Farsiou is hopeful that the board members will determine that the one case he is appealing — the inappropriate language usage — is actually not HIB. The attorney said that the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, on which the district’s own HIB policy is based, does not qualify inappropriate language in itself as HIB. And if the board members rule that it is, he said, they will be overwhelmed with HIB complaints against other coaches as a result.
“They have a tough job, but they don’t have a tough decision in this case,” Farsiou told the News-Record in a Sept. 22 phone interview. “I do believe that we provided the law and the facts to the board for them to make the right decision here. And the right decision is that inappropriate language does not violate the HIB policy.”
In fact, Farsiou said he is not even convinced that Seitz determined inappropriate language was against the HIB policy since he has not been provided with the investigator’s full report. He said Ramos might have made that determination himself.
Seitz declined to comment for this article. District spokeswoman Suzanne Turner said that she was unable to comment on the investigation per district policy.
But Nathan adamantly believes that the coaches committed HIB with the comments they made to players. According to the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, HIB is defined as any sort of communication motivated by a distinguishing characteristic that “has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students or creates a hostile educational environment.” The former baseball parent, who works as an anti-bullying consultant, said that this describes the language the coaches used to a T.
Particularly, Nathan alleged that the coaches would routinely tell players “You suck,” and “What’s wrong with you?” as well as other, more vulgar, comments. They would use expletives to describe the team members as well, he alleged. And just because these comments were allegedly made in a sports environment does not make them acceptable, he said. Coaches are educators too, Nathan said, so they should be held to the same standard as any teacher would.
“I can’t fathom any principal, superintendent, school attorney or parent who would ever allow a child to be called (expletives) in any classroom in this country,” Nathan told the News-Record in a Sept. 23 phone interview. “These are not minor language issues. This is about a culture that is created by abusive coaches where the athletes feel shamed, they feel frightened, they become anxious around the coaches because of their constant shouting, name-calling and threatening. That is emotional and verbal abuse.”
While Nathan believes the inappropriate language being labeled HIB was the proper decision, he does hope to see the rulings overturned in the cases he is appealing. Though he did not wish to divulge which cases they were, he said he believes he presented a good case before the board as to why they should be considered HIB. Specifically, he said he played excerpts of his and his son’s recorded interviews with Seitz, explained his interpretation of the law and shared articles documenting the prevalence and effect of bully coaches.
Meanwhile, parents and players alike are coming out in support of the coaches amid reports that Fischetti and Becht might not be rehired for the next baseball season. And they are making their feelings known in a variety of ways. The CHS Baseball Boosters, for one, recently shared several documents with the News-Record which they believe show that the coaching staff has been treated unfairly by the district during the past two years while dealing with allegations.
For instance, a January 2015 letter from then-acting Superintendent James Memoli stated that an investigation found no evidence to support HIB accusations against the coaches in 2014. But Ramos then sent letters to the families of Alex Nathan and his teammate David DeFranco, who was also allegedly bullied, upon taking over from Memoli in August 2015 informing them that 10 HIB complaints they had filed against the coaches would be confirmed — reversing some of the findings Memoli had previously written about. Soon after, former district anti-bullying coordinator Phil Stern sent an email to the coaches’ attorney at the time stressing that “the only reason (Ramos) is doing this is to end the debacle, and (he) is not viewing this action as making a decision on the merits about your clients.”
Reading an open letter on behalf of the Boosters during the Sept. 19 board meeting, Juani Tantillo called that series of events an example of the “misjudgments, mistakes and general mismanagement of the school district in handling this matter.” Tantillo said having the same cases repeatedly reopened is a matter of double jeopardy, while confirming HIB against them to satisfy a few parents is “a disturbing violation of the principles of due process and fairness.” On top of that, she said the coaches were never told that there were pending cases prior to Ramos’ letter being sent, and Seitz did not speak with them about language during his own investigation.
Overall, Tantillo said the board members are obligated to make things right after years of harming the coaches’ reputations, “wasting” taxpayer money and not listening to the many parents and players who support the coaching staff.
“The lack of due process, the rush to judgment and now a desire by the superintendent and the board to scapegoat these coaches in order to put this whole thing behind them and cover up their own mistakes is shocking to the members of this community and should be embarrassing to you,” Tantillo said.
Tantillo was not the only one who spoke out in favor of Fischetti and Becht during the meeting. CHS baseball players Matt Kritzberg and Eliot Dix presented a petition with 365 signatures in support of the coaches, which they said demonstrates the positive impact the coaches have had on the student body. Several former players also spoke highly of Fischetti and Becht, crediting the two with helping them get to where they are today. Even Joe Sorce Jr., the Essex County representative for the Essex-Union All-Star Game, spoke in favor of the coaches, telling the board that not reappointing them would be a disservice to the players they have led to success.
And people are continuing to show their support for the coaches. Booster parent Rick Lawall told the News-Record that his son, Daniel, has had a highly positive experience with Fischetti and Becht in the two years he has been on the team. In fact, Lawall said he has always found them to be very “even-keeled” and “fair,” especially compared to some of the louder coaches he hears on neighboring fields. He said he has certainly never witnessed any indication of the type of behavior alleged by the Nathans or the DeFrancos.
“I’ve seen the coaches treating the kids respectfully, driving them hard to perform,” Lawall said in a Sept. 22 phone interview. “But I haven’t seen them berating them. I haven’t heard any profanity. I’ve seen them be a positive influence. I wouldn’t put my son in a situation like that if I thought that these coaches were overbearing or treating the kids badly.”
Thea Clark, Dix’s mother, agreed that she has never seen anything resembling the HIB accusations. Though sometimes they might get excited over the course of a game, Clark said they remain professional at all times. She said she feels they “have done good by our kids.”
Clark told the News-Record that she would be “very disappointed” if Fischetti and Becht were not rehired by the district, especially after the way they have been treated. After years of not getting their due process, she said that it seems like they are now being “thrown under the bus” as a way of making a longstanding issue go away. She said reappointing them as coaches is the only just decision the board can make.
The recent outpouring of support demonstrates just how well-respected the coaches are, according to Farsiou. After all, he said, they must be doing something right to inspire so many people to speak out in their favor. And the attorney said they indeed have a lot of to be proud of, from taking the baseball program to new heights to simply sticking with the team after the turmoil of the past few years. In fact, he said they are so committed to South Orange-Maplewood that they have refused to say anything negative about the district despite the fact that their own names have been dragged through the mud.
The coaches hope to remain with the district, too. According to Farsiou, Fischetti and Becht have no plans to resign from their coaching positions. He said Fischetti has even reapplied for his head coaching position, which means he could reappoint Becht as well as fellow coaches Sam Maietta and Steve Campos if hired. That says a lot about their dedication, he said.
“They’re still willing to coach this team under the circumstances they’ve been under for the last two years,” Farsiou said. “A lot of coaches would’ve said ‘You know what? The heck with this, I’m out of here.’ But they didn’t do that. And they’re certainly not (staying) for the stipend, which is one of the lowest in the state. They’re doing it because they love their players and they love their program and they love their school. And they’re hopeful that the administrators are going to do the right thing here.”
But Nathan does not think Fischetti or Becht should be rehired, and he is not impressed by the outpouring of support. He said the Boosters are only “cherry picking” the documents that best suit their case, pointing out that he has an April 2015 letter from Memoli apologizing for the letter he sent in January. In the document, which Nathan shared with the News-Record, the former acting superintendent said that he was “much more knowledgeable about improvements that are needed in our baseball program” since originally writing that there was no evidence to support claims of HIB against the coaches. He also lauded Nathan for pushing to have his concerns investigated, stating that it has resulted in “a greater appreciation for the need for positive change in the way we deliver extracurricular services.”
The fact that people are coming out in favor of the coaches is also unsurprising, Nathan said. The anti-bullying consultant said that bullies only target certain people, so it is to be expected that many players would have positive experiences with the coaches. But he said the few who are targeted — like his son — live a nightmare. And he predicts the coaches’ advocates will eventually realize that.
“These parents have no idea what they’re supporting,” Nathan said. “Ultimately, the truth is going to come out. And they will discover that, all along, they were listening to the wrong person.”
Nathan further said he hopes the coaches are not rehired so that the district can develop a baseball program with a better atmosphere in their absence.
Turner said that no final decision has been made regarding the baseball coaching staff for the 2017 season, adding that the board plans to appoint baseball coaches during its February meeting. She said that no candidate has been interviewed for the head coaching position yet. But Ramos apparently will not take the decision lightly.
“Dr. Ramos is committed to making sure that the SOMSD moves forward with a positive focus in our baseball program,” Turner told the News-Record in a Sept. 26 email.
If the coaches are not rehired, Farsiou said he will file either an administrative or a civil lawsuit on their behalf. He also said that he will file an appeal with the Commissioner of Education’s office if the board does not rule in their favor for their appeal. Nathan said he will also consider appealing — though he is currently focused on his Nov. 17 hearing before an administrative law judge regarding his petition against the board regarding the handling of his son’s HIB investigations.
Meanwhile, the coaches, district and board are still facing the lawsuit filed against them by DeFranco, who alleges that the coaches repeatedly bullied him. That litigation draws from many of the incidents in the 10 HIB complaints Ramos verified, including a time when all four coaches allegedly locked him inside a room and yelled at him for complaining to the district about them.
DeFranco has alleged that Fischetti, Becht, Maietta and Campos used “lewd, racist and vulgar” language and expletives when making reference to himself and his teammates. After being cut and then reinstated, he said 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 has also alleged the coaches at one point did not remove an offensive sign about another player that had been posted.